Ultimate Solace
by jds87
Summary: Sharmen & Danish story.   Alice & Shane are in a band.Dana is insecure about her sexuality but falls for Alice.She's afraid which makes the relationship break. Meanwhile Shane & Carmen like each other but it takes a few bumps and time till they realise it
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 1**

"Shane, Are you sure it's here?" Alice asked as she looked around.

"That's what it says here, 2pm, The Planet."

"Let me see that." Alice ripped the paper out of Shane's hands to see what was on it herself. She saw that they were indeed at the right place. "This doesn't look much like a club, more like a lil café."

"Yeah, one filled with lots of hot girls." Shane replied grinning at a girl who obviously checked her out from by the counter.

Alice looked from Shane to the girl. "Ok, I'm gonna go look for the owner…Shane...? SHANE!"

"Huh? What?" Shane finally said as she looked back at Alice.

"I said I'm gonna look for the owner."

"Good, I'll order us something to drink; I'm thirsty all of a sudden." Shane said rushing to the counter were the girl still was.

Alice shook her head as she walked towards the back of the café. _"Must be there." _Alice thought as she looked at a small office in the corner. She knocked softly before opening the door. "Hello?" She said as she looked from behind the door to see that the room was empty.

"You're looking for Kit?"

Alice quickly turned around. "I don't know, is she the owner?"

"Yeah, that's Kit." The person replied. "She isn't here. She should be back any minute though. You wanna wait for her with me and my friend?"

"That's very nice of you, thank you erm…."

"Carmen."

"Thank you, Carmen."

"No problem, come on, we are sitting over there." Carmen said with a smile as she walked with Alice toward her table.

"Hey Dana, this is…" Carmen started as she walked past her to re-take her place.

"Carm, check this girl out, she's so ho…" Dana said, closing the magazine she had in her hands immediately when she saw that Carmen hadn't returned alone.

"Thank you, you are hot as well." Alice replied with a grin.

"S…so…sorry, I wasn't talking about you, I was talking about…erm… not that I mean that you are ugly or something cause you're not. You are very beautiful and…" Dana replied, looking extremely red.

Alice looked at her with an amused face. "Hi, I'm Alice." She said, not wanting the girl to embarrass herself even more.

"D…Dana."

"Alice's looking for Kit…" Carmen said as she pointed to a chair to motion for Alice to join them.

"Yeah I am, we are performing here tonight."

"Cool, so you are erm "Ultimate Solace"? Carmen said holding up the flyer.

"Yeah, me and my friend Shane."Alice replied turning around to look for Shane."I can't find her now…she was talking to some girl earlier. She must've gone outside for a smoke or something." She said looking from Carmen to Dana who still looked embarrassed.

"Th…that's a really cool band name." Dana stuttered out.

"Thanks. So you guys from around here?"

"Yeah we live next to each other, a few blocks from here. You?"

Alice was looking at Dana and didn't realize that Carmen asked her a question. "Hmm what?" she finally asked when she realized that she was been spoken to.

"Are you from around here?" Carmen asked with a smile.

"No, Shane and I just moved here, we haven't even seen our house. We stopped here first to check the place out."

The three of them talked a bit more about all kinds of stuff. Dana was finally feeling more relaxed and started joining in more on the conversation.

"Kit seems to be away longer then she planned. You wanna have something to drink while you wait?" Dana asked.

"Sure, I'll have lemonade."

"Okay…" Dana started to get up.

"Wait, I'll go get it." Carmen said.

"Carmen, you are off duty, I'll go get it myself."

"It's no problem. And besides, this way I can ask Sophie how Ellen is doing, cause she seems to be making quite a mess." Carmen said as she looked at the bar where she saw the new girl working.

"You work here?"Alice asked just as Carmen wanted to walk away.

"Yeah, only weekday afternoons though. I'll be right back."

Alice and Dana looked at each other. Both looking for something to say.

"How long have you been in a band?" Dana said.

"3 years now, Shane and I started it for fun at first. But we really liked it and continued. We never thought we would do it for this long, but as long as we like it and we get gigs, we'll keep doing it."

"So you are playing here tonight then huh?" Dana asked as she looked at the flyer that hang on each table.

"Yeah, although I thought this was more like a club."

"Oh it is..." Dana said. "…at night." She quickly added when she saw Alice raise her eyebrows.

"Cool, so I …"

"Sorry to interrupt, but this is Kit. Kit this is Alice."Carmen said as she returned and handed the drink to Alice.

"Nice to meet you." Kit said shaking hands with Alice as she stood up.

"Likewise, you have a very cool place here. With really nice people…." Alice said looking to Dana who quickly looked down, feeling shy again.

"Thank you." She said looking at both Alice and Dana with a smile. "Why don't we step into my office and we'll discuss more about tonight."

"Sounds good, I'll go get Shane." Alice replied as she started to walk away. "Will I see you here tonight?" Alice asked turning around again slightly to look at Dana.

"Probably." She said with a shy smile.

"Cool!"Alice smiled happily. "Thanks for letting me wait here with you." She said to both Carmen and Dana.

"No problem, see you tonight." Carmen said.

"Bye."

"Thank god…we are finally here." Alice said as they finally got to their house.

"This place looks pretty cool." Shane said as she also started looking around.

"Of course it's cool, I chose it!" Alice said, actually feeling quite proud of herself.

Alice had always been in charge of choosing the houses her and Shane would be staying in when they moved to another state or city. This time was no different. When they decided they were bored of one place Alice suggested moving so their band could perform at new and better place.

"Yeah, you also said the house in Michigan would be cool and that place was a dump!"

"I was wrong one time…one time Shane! Tell you what, next time you can choose, okay?"

"I'm just messing with you Al. As long as I have a bed I'm okay." Shane replied looking in a few more rooms.

"You only want a bed cause otherwise you wouldn't be able to bring girls over…"Alice pointed out to Shane who grinned at her after hearing her comment. "We should probably unload the rest of our stuff first."

"Yeah, good thing we set up our stuff at The Planet already, that will save us time tonight."

"Yeah now we can just go in like an hour before we play and relax for a while." Alice said as she and Shane walked to their truck to unload their stuff.

Shane stopped when she heard her comment and looked at Alice who noticed her stare. "What?"

"We never do that."

"What we did it plenty of times."

"Al, we usually have to rush over to be on time!"

"Okay okay, but now I wanna go early, so we don't have to rush over." Alice said with a smile, thinking that she might see Dana again before their gig.

"What's her name?" Shane suddenly asked when she noticed Alice's face changed.

Alice's smile grew even wider. "Her name's Dana and she's sooooo cute Shane, you should've seen her." Alice quickly said. "And she is so shy it's makes her even cuter!"

"You have to do me a favor though."

"Okay, what?"

"Dana is probably coming over with her friend…so maybe you can keep her friend company and maybe ask her to dance so Dana and I can talk?" Alice asked with a pleading smile.

"No way." Shane said taking a box to carry inside from the car.

"What? Why not?"

"Al, I don't want to babysit her friend all night...just so that you and Dana can talk."

"I'm not asking you to babysit her! Besides she's really nice so maybe you can ask her to dance or something." Alice asked. She saw that Shane didn't like the idea at all though.

"I don't dance."

"Ooooh come on Shaaaaaaane! Please please pleaaaaase." Alice whined, grabbing Shane's arm and gripping it tightly.

"Alright alright! You don' have to pull my arm off you know, I'll do it, but if I get bored I'm ditching her!"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." Alice said happily. "You won't ditch her though, Carmen's really hot."

"She is? Well maybe I can skip the dancing part and bring her over here to…"

"NO!" Alice quickly replied.

"Why not?"

"Because you would have sex with her and never give her a second glance after that!"

"So?" Shane replied as if it was the most normal thing on earth.

"So? Shane, Dana would never talk to me again either if you did that to her best friend, so no fucking tonight!"

"Alright fine! You owe me." Shane said looking at Alice and pushing a box in her hands.

**Well, that's it. The first chapter of my story.**** Hope you all like it.**

**Please feel free to leave me a review and tell me what you think.**

**Thank you!**

**J.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"So where is she?" Shane asked as she played with the cord of her guitar. They were on stage re-setting some of their stuff.

"She's not here yet." She replied with a sigh.

"Don't worry, we still have time."

"Yeah but I wanted to talk to her before we start…in half an hour."

"So talk to her afterwards then…the evening is still long and we only play like 4 songs so you will have plenty of time to talk to her after our gig."

"That's true." Alice replied picking up her guitar and putting it around her neck.

"You wanna do a sound check now?" Shane asked Alice.

"Sure."

"Thank you." Alice and Shane said in unison as they bowed to their crowd who cheered at them loudly.

"You've been great! Enjoy the rest of your evening and see you next time." Alice said in the microphone before taking off her guitar quickly to put it away in its case.

"Okay so point me this Dana girl." Shane asked Alice while she looked at the crowd to see who might be her.

"How did you know she was here?

"Alice, I've known you all my life, I can tell when you are excited 'bout something. Plus you were staring to that part of the club all through the gig." Shane said pointing to her left. "I can't tell who you were looking at though."

"I know but she is so cute, I couldn't help but look at her. She's the one in the white top and black pants." Alice said looking and slightly pointed to where Dana was sitting.

"Oh my, she's totally into you as well." Shane replied as she kept staring at Dana who was now looking down at her table when she noticed she was being watched.

"Really?" Alice asked with a big smile. "That's…wait, how can you tell?"

"Well she was totally checking you out and looked down quickly when she saw us watching."

"That doesn't mean she's into me, maybe she just really liked our music."

"Or maybe she's into you." Shane said again. "And I see she is alone so no babysitting for me either."

"Carmen is here, I saw them both come in earlier, so if you don't mind, I'll go over to Dana and maybe you can go to Carmen and ask her to dance or to drink something?"

"What! Now I have to pay for her drinks as well?" Shane complained. She saw Alice quickly reaching in her pocket to pull out some money. "I really don't wanna do this."

"Here. Now quit whining and just do this for me okay!" Alice said giving Shane some money.

"Fine, okay where is this Carmen then."

"Hmm." Alice said as she started to look around. "There. The girl with the red shirt over at the bar."

"That's Carmen?" Shane asked Alice who nodded her head. "Wow." She said to herself. "Later." Shane said hoping off stage and going over directly to Carmen.

Alice shook her head before turning back to look at Dana who now looked slightly bored. She saw Shane already talking to Carmen and walked over to where Dana was sitting.

Dana saw her coming over and shifted slightly in her seat. "Hi."

"Hi, I'm glad you came." Alice said softly.

"You're welcome, I'm here almost every weekend though." Dana said laughing softly.

"Oh, I thought you were here especially for me." Alice said in a joking way.

"I am but…I mean I wanted to see you …play I mean."Dana said as she started stuttering again.

"Well I'm glad you are, it's was nice to see a familiar face in the crowd although we've only met like a few hours ago and only talked for like 45mins." Alice said babbling away. She realized she was and stopped talking. "Would you like to dance with me?"

"Oh erm, I…I'm not… I mean I'm not really..."Dana started to say.

"You don't dance?"

"I dance from time to time, but later in the evenings, and after lots more drinks." Dana said laughing again.

"Okay so erm no dancing, would you like something to dri…?"

"You know what?" Dana said looking at the dance floor that was packed with people. "I've changed my mind, I would love to dance with you." Dana said getting up and walking over to Alice.

"Cool." Alice said smiling as she followed Dana. They both walked to the dance floor and started dancing softly. _"I'm gonna enjoy living here." _Alice thought as Dana moved closer to her as they danced.


	3. Chapter 3

**So I saw that a ton of you read the chapter but I only got one reply….was kinda bummed out about that so hoping for a few more replies this time **

**Chapter 3**

"Hi."

"Hello…Shane right?"

Shane nodded her head while she continued to stare.

"I'm Carmen. Can I buy you something to drink?" She asked with a smile.

Shane looked up. "No..." She replied quickly as Carmen gave her a weird look. "…I mean... I came over to ask you the same thing…So can I buy _you_ a drink?"

Carmen laughed. "Sure, I would love one."

"Beer?"

Carmen nodded with a smile and watched Shane walk to the bar. She couldn't help but check her out from head to toe. She also noticed that tons of other girls were doing the same thing. This made her walk over to Shane who just started to make her way back over as well.

Shane smiled and handed Carmen her beer.

"Is this place always so crowded?" Shane asked.

"Pretty much, it's really packed here tonight though. Must be 'cause of the hot girls that performed tonight." Carmen replied with a flirty grin.

Shane grinned back and moved a bit closer as even more people entered the club. "So you liked our music?"

"Yeah, I enjoyed it. Did Alice leave already?" She asked as she looked around.

"No, she went to sit with Dana." Shane said as she pointed to the table to see it was now empty. "Oh there they are." She said as she saw them on the dance floor.

"Those two are so into each other! Dana was mad at me earlier because I was late picking her up. She said she wanted to talk to Alice before the show. Like she wouldn't be able to do that after the gig!"

"That's what I said! Alice was the same, she was afraid that Dana wouldn't show up anymore." Shane laughed as she looked at them on the dance floor.

"Dana must really like Alice though 'cause I haven't seen Dana dance with anyone in like …never."Carmen realized, "Come to think of it, I've only seen her dance with friends."

"Maybe she just doesn't like to dance?" Shane shrugged.

"Maybe." Carmen looked a few seconds more, she saw that Dana was looking around the club while dancing. "So, you think you will perform somewhere anytime soon?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Kit said if all goes well, she would like us back for a couple more sets so…"

"So we will be seeing you again soon." Carmen finished for her.

"I hope so, the crowd here is really cool."

"Yeah, you already have fans." Carmen said nodding her head to a few girls who were looking at Shane. Carmen stepped closer to Shane. She saw that the girls kept looking and leaned in to whisper in Shane's ear. "Would you like want to dance with me after this song?" Carmen asked as she ran her hand down Shane's arm. She smiled when she saw that the girls had walked away at that point. Shane was only looking at Carmen at that moment.

Shane felt a shiver run down her spine when Carmen whispered in her ear. "Sure." She replied quickly. She didn't like to dance but couldn't say no when Carmen had asked her.

"Well I can show you around town if you like?" Dana said. They had danced to a few songs earlier and were now talking. They had moved to a quieter spot of The Planet.

"I would love that, but Shane and I kinda agreed to do that together."

"She can come as well…I'm jobless at the moment so I have too much time." Dana laughed.

"Oh…" Alice replied. She wanted to ask more about it but decided against it. She didn't have to either because Dana continued talking.

"I quit my horrible job because I hated it. I had a desk job for 2 years and that was long enough."

"Well in that case, I would love for you to bring us around town, maybe we can do it tomorrow…Erm the tour I mean, not do it _do it."_Alice replied quickly.

Dana blushed. "S…Sounds good…oh wait, Carmen and I had plans already…unless you don't mind her coming along as well."Dana suggested.

Alice didn't know what to reply. She already asked Shane to spend the whole evening with Carmen so that Dana and her could be alone. She didn't know if Shane would like that idea very much. "Erm I'll ask Shane." Alice said looking for Shane in the crowd.

"Our friends keep disappearing on us huh?" Dana said as she looked for Carmen.

Alice laughed. She didn't wanna say that she was the reason why Carmen disappeared on her. She spotted Shane in the crowd, talking to a waiter. Shane brought two drinks over to Carmen. Dana must have noticed as well.

"Looks like Carmen and Shane already met."

"Yeah…I'll go ask Shane if she would like to come over for a bit so I can introduce you and ask her if she would like to go with us tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll order us two more drinks then."

"Are you trying to get me drunk? Cause I think I already drank like half of what has been served in the whole club." Alice joked.

"I wasn't trying to, I just wanted to…" Dana panicked.

"Dana. I was just joking…"

"Oh, so another drink then?" Dana asked, not really sure if Alice still wanted one or not.

Alice nodded and made her way over towards Shane and Carmen. Carmen was talking into Shane's ear. The music was so loud they probably couldn't hear each other. Alice saw Carmen taking Shane's hand as they were about to go away.

"Hey Carmen. I see that you already met Shane."Alice said, playing dumb.

"Hi Alice, and I see that you are keeping Dana from being bored." Carmen replied.

Alice grinned and nodded before turning to Shane. "Shane…could you come over for a bit, Dana still hasn't met you and…"

"Now? Carmen and I were gonna dance."

Alice raised her eyebrows to this. "Dance? ...Erm okay, could you come over after that?"

"Sure, We'll come over in a few minutes." Shane said and she ushered Carmen onto the dance floor.

"So you and Dana had a nice time huh?" Shane asked as they were finally home. All of them spend most of the evening sitting together to chat about all kinds of stuff.

"Yes, she's great! But so shy…like when I asked her to dance…it was so cute." Alice said smiling as she thought back at their first dance. "Carmen isn't that shy, is she?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Well for one, you two held hands almost all night long after you finished dancing. By the way, what was that all about?" Alice asked grinning.

"What?"

"Dancing? I thought you didn't dance?"

"Alice, I did what you asked me to do! I kept her from coming over, didn't I?" Shane said with a faint smile. She wasn't about to say that she actually liked it. "Oh... and here." She said pulling out money from her pocket.

"What's this?"

"It's the money you gave me to buy Carmen drinks."

"I know it is but why are you giving it back to me?" Alice replied, already knowing the answer but daring Shane to say it.

Shane noticed Alice's grin. "I enjoyed myself, o-kay, can we drop this now please?"

"Sure, thanks Shane." Alice said giving her a hug.

"Yeah yeah, I'm going to bed." Shane said. She smiled at Alice and walked into her room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you ****charmedcrazy14**** for your kind words!**

**[b] ****Chapter 4 [/b]**

"Do I look okay?"

"You look fine Al." Shane immediately replied.

"You didn't even look!" Alice complained.

Shane turned her head and started laughing. "Alice, aren't you a little overdressed?" She said when she saw that Alice was wearing a dress. "We are not going to some fancy dress party, you know."

"Too much?"

"A little bit yeah." Shane laughed.

"Okay okay" Alice said walking back in her bedroom. "When are you gonna get dressed? They will be here in like half an hour." She yelled from her bedroom.

"I am dressed."

"You are wearing that?" Alice said walking back out the bedroom.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Shane asked looking down to check her clothes. She was wearing her blue jeans and a black wife beater.

"If you wanna impress Carmen, you will have to cha…"

"Who says I wanna impress Carmen?"

"I am." Alice simply replied.

"I'm not, okay…" Shane replied quickly. Alice shrugged and walked back into her bedroom. Shane looked at her clothes again. "Nothing's wrong with them." She said to herself but quickly ran in her bedroom to change as well.

"Alice they are here. What's taking you so damn long?" Shane yelled as she saw a car pull up.

"How does this look." Alice said running out of her bedroom to the living room where Shane was.

"Looks good."

"You changed as well huh…I thought you didn't wanna impr…"

"Al…one more word out of you and you'll be going alone, okay." Shane cut in.

"You don't mean that, you…" Alice started but she stopped when she saw Shane raise her eyebrows, daring her to go on. Just then the doorbell rang.

"Aren't you going to open the door?" Shane asked when she saw that Alice didn't move.

"I am but I don't wanna make it seem like I was desperately waiting for them to show up."

Shane shook her head as she walked behind Alice who went to open the door.

"Hi, come on in" Alice said after she had opened the door and kissed Dana on the cheek. She motioned for them to come in.

"Thanks." Dana replied as she went over to greet Shane.

"Hello Carmen." Alice said as she greeted with a kiss on the cheek as well.

"Hi." Carmen smiled at Alice as she went over to Shane as well.

"Hey." Shane said to Carmen as she leaned in to give her a kiss. "You look nice."

"Thank you, you do too." Carmen replied with a smile. Shane was now wearing her black jeans and a red shirt.

"You look nice as well Dana." Alice chipped in.

Dana smiled shyly. "Th…thanks. I really like your shirt."

Alice smiled back and nodded her thanks.

"You ready to go?" Dana asked.

"Yep, let's go." Alice said as she and Dana started to move to the door.

"We will be invisible to them for the rest of the day now." Carmen laughed as they followed Alice and Dana out the door.

"Oh yeah."

"So, have you finally asked her out then?" Shane asked when she bit in her toast. Both of them were sitting and the table, eating their breakfast.

"No. I wanted to but there wasn't a right time."

"Alice, it's been three weeks, you obviously like each other, why are you so afraid to ask her out?"

"I know Shane, and I tried but I'm not sure if she wants to be more then friends…" Alice sighed.

"Why you say that?"

"Well last week after our gig…" Alice started to say as she thought back at what happened.

"_That was great you guys!" Carmen yelled to Alice and Shane when they got of stage._

"_Thanks." They both replied._

"_Come on, let's dance." Shane said, taking Carmen's hand when she saw that Dana and Alice started staring at each other._

_Shane and Carmen got along really well, spent a lot of time together and for some reason Shane all of a sudden found dancing a really fun thing to do. Although she only did it with Carmen. Alice had told her that it was because she could hold Carmen close, without having to give an explanation for it. Shane had stubbornly laughed it off and said she just liked it._

"_What?" Alice asked Dana, when she was still looking at her._

"_When you sung that last song…wow you looked so…wow."_

"_So…?" Alice asked, wanting to hear what Dana meant._

"_Sexy." Dana said softly, looking down._

_Alice smiled boldly. She hadn't expected Dana to say that. She suddenly looked up and stared at Alice again, subconsciously moving closer to her. Alice moved even closer to her and put her arms around Dana. They started to sway slowly to the music, still looking at each other, both forgetting everything and everyone around them. Alice leaned in slowly, their heads inches away from each other. Her lips were about to touch her dance partner's, when suddenly Dana pulled away. Dana looked flustered and stepped out of Alice's embrace completely when she saw someone staring at them._

"_Sorry, I…" Alice started to say but Dana interrupted her._

"_It's ok, it's just that, I …I'm not…I…" Dana started, not being able to say it. Hating herself for not doing what she wanted to do. Dana sighed. "Do you want something to drink." She said, changing the subject._

"_Sure, I'll go get us one." Alice said, walking to the bar._

"_Stupid, stupid." Dana said to herself as she watched her walk away, knowing that Alice was disappointed._

"Maybe, she thought it was too soon for that." Shane said.

"Maybe." Alice replied. "Maybe she just wants to be friends with me."

"Alice, she called you sexy! She _so_ doesn't want to be 'just friends'." Shane reasoned with her. "Just ask her our Al."

"Easier said than done." Alice said. "What if she turns me down?"

"She won't."

"Okay, what about you then?" Alice said, not longer wanting to talk about Dana and her. She got up and put her plate and knife on the sink.

"What about me?" Shane said, turning around to put her stuff on the sink as well.

"When are you gonna ask Carmen out?"

Shane dropped her stuff and quickly turned around. "What?" She obviously heard what Alice had said and continued. "I'm not going to, and besides I spend loads of time with her, I'm even meeting her in like 2 hours."

"Going over to The Planet to see her doesn't count as spending time with her."

"I don't wanna date her." Shane said again.

"You like her."

"So?" Shane replied, not really denying it. She was cleaning the table and didn't dare to look up and meet Alice's stare.

"So ask her out!"

"No…" she said stubbornly. "And besides, weren't you the one who said I couldn't fuck her?"

"That's not what I'm saying now either! You like her Shane, really like her. You danced with her, held her hand, shared jokes with her. Hell, I even heard you talking about your youth with her." Alice said, glad that Shane was finally looking up now. "So I'm saying, ask her out and …just be happy Shane."

"I'll think about it..." Shane replied.

"Good." Alice said.

"…if you ask Dana out."

Alice wanted to protest but decided against it. After all, she wanted to date Dana and was glad that Shane was finally gonna think about asking Carmen out. "Fine, I'll ask her later at The Planet."


	5. Chapter 5

**So, today I got a story alert and someone also added the story to their favorites which made me REALLY happy. Now all I need is some reviews to see what you all think of it, cause a lot of you are reading but noone is really replying which is a bummer. I'm not asking for loads of comments but **_**a few**_** would be nice.**

**Anyways, enjou the next chapter!**

**Special thanks to my old friend Z. for helping me in this chapter!**

**Chapter 5**

"Hello Carmen."

"Hey. I'm glad to see you, where's Shane?"

"Parking." She said with a smile. "Is Dana here yet?

"Yeah, she's at the back getting a few things for me."

"Oh." She replied, wondering if it was gonna take long. She really wanted to see Dana.

"You can go see her if you want." Carmen said, seeing that Alice's face fell slightly.

"Thanks!" She smiled as she quickly made her way to the back.

Alice walked in the back and started to look around for Dana. She quickly spotted her and made her way over to her. Dana had her back to her as she was scavenging through a few shelves and didn't hear her coming.

"Guess who." Alice said, putting her arms on Dana's waist. Dana, obviously not expecting this, quickly took Alice's arm and spun them around quickly, slamming Alice against the wooden shelves.

"Alice! You scared the shit out of me!" Dana exclaimed as she realized who her "attacker" was. She let go of her arm and put her hands on Alice's waist instead.

"Ouch." Alice groaned rubbing her the left of her neck, that hit the top shelve.

"I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"I hurt my neck…remind me to never do that again." Alice said with a smile.

"I'm s…s… sorry Alice." Dana said, totally embarrassed about the whole thing.

"It's okay." She said, still rubbing the part of her neck that hit the shelf.

" Let me see." Dana said, taking away Alice's hand to look at her neck. She moved Alice's hair out of the way. Alice held her breath as Dana began to run her fingertips over the red spot on her neck. "It looks a bit red but I think you'll survive." Dana said looking at Alice. She suddenly remembered she had to breathe as she stared deep into Dana's eyes.

Suddenly feeling bold, Dana placed a kiss on the red spot. She heard Alice's breathing change and kissed the spot again. This time Alice let out a moan, so soft that Dana wouldn't have heard if she hadn't been leaning on Alice. She kissed her way from Alice's neck to her cheek. Dana looked up at Alice when she had reached her lips. She let her gaze linger from Alice's eyes to her lips. She saw Alice staring at her, breathing deeply. She leaned in and kissed Alice softly. Alice immediately responded to the kiss and put her arms around Dana, pulling her close. They kissed passionately for a few moments before both of them needed air and broke apart.

Alice smiled widely. "Scaring you might be a good thing after all."

Dana laughed and kissed Alice again on the lips. "Does your neck still hurt?"

"My neck...? Oh! Nope." Alice said, still staring at Dana. _"It's now or never." _She thought.

"Dana?"

"Mmm" She replied, looking at Alice.

"Do you wanna go out with me?" She asked. Even after that kiss, she still was afraid that Dana was gonna turn her down.

Dana nodded. "Yes, I would love to."

Alice's smile grew again as she heard Dana's answer. "Great!" She said as she leaned in to kiss Dana again, who happily returned it.

"Hey Carm." Shane said as she walked around the table. She kissed Carmen on the cheek and went to sit next to her.

"Hey. How are you?"

"I'm good, couldn't find a place to park." Shane replied, she looked at the counter, expecting to see Alice there. "Where's Al?

"Dana was at the back when she came in. I said she could go to the back as well which she did. That was about 15 minutes ago." Carmen said grinning.

"Alice must have finally done it then."

"What?"

"Ask Dana out."

"Oh, she was going to ask her?"

"Yeah. She was nervous about it." Shane said.

"Dana is too."

"Dana was gonna ask Alice out as well?"

"No, well I don't know about that. Dana just is shy when it comes to dating and all. She had a really bad coming out. Her parents didn't take it well and some off her friends turned their backs at her. She has been having trouble dealing with it ever since."

"Oh, that sucks." Shane replied. She saw both of them coming inside the café again, grinning and whispering in each other's ear. "But I guess it went well." She said, motioning with her head for Carmen to look at them as well.

"Oh yeah, they are gonna go out!" Carmen said as she grinned.

Carmen turned her head to Shane again when she noticed that Dana and Alice went over to the bar to order something.

"I guess I'll have to go get the stuff myself." Carmen said laughing when she saw that Dana didn't bring back what she was suppose to bring for her.

Shane laughed as well and nodded. "Yeah, I think Dana did slightly different things." She smirked.

"That storage room is definitely a good way to get girls." Carmen joked. "I should try it out some time."

"You don't need that room to do that…you get girls to fall for you by just simply smiling." Shane replied, half speaking of her own expienence with Carmen and half stating the obvious. Carmen was gorgeous, she could have anyone she wanted.

"This smile?" Carmen asked, smiling widely. "So anyone…, does that include you as well?"Carmen asked in a joking yet flirty way. Carmen leaned over her seat, closer to Shane.

"Erm…I…well" Shane started, caught off guard by Carmen's question.

Carmen laughed loudly. "I was just teasing you Shane!"

"Oh…yeah I know" Shane laughed nervously, glad she didn't have to answer the question.

"Yeah right!…anyways, I'm gonna go get ready for my shift. You'll still be here for a while?"

Shane nodded. "Yes."

"Great!" Carmen replied, smiling widely again. "I'll see you in a bit then." Carmen said walking off to the storage room.

Shane watched her walk away, her eyes going dreamily from Carmen's hair and the way it bounced when she walked down to her ass. Shane let her head fall on the table. _'God everything about her makes me weak, that smile, those eyes, that body…' _Shane thought, she looked back up when she heard Alice's laugh getting nearer, quickly shaking the thoughts off Carmen out of her head.

"This is nice!" said Dana, as she ate some of her hot meal placed neatly in front of her at the table in a restaurant they had found not far from the beach.

"Yeah, so's this!" answered Alice, as she also began to eat her own meal.

They had spent the whole day together. They went to the beach, just talking and having a relaxing day out. The night slowly rolled in off the coast, the waves gently made a rapping sound as they broke against the wall of the beach. The two women finished off their meals, as they looked out across the balcony they were on, out into the open air of the sea. The sunset was glistening along the unbalanced waves that made their way slowly towards the beach.

The two women were half-way in their deserts, when a scene began to emerge with some other customers. "Well I said sorry!" snapped an angry woman, who stood up and waving her arms around at another woman who was covered with red wine.

"You should be more careful then in future!" snapped the woman with red wine down her top, as she tried to wipe the stain from it. "Me? Be more careful?" asked another woman sarcastically, "It should be you that's saying sorry and looking where you're going!" The red haired woman, who had just joined the argument, stood up and started to wave her arms around in frustration.

"Who asked you?" snapped the woman back, trying to remove the stain from her top.

"Look it was an accident!" shouted the woman.

"An accident waiting to happen, cause of your stupid bag in the way!" She then kicked the woman's bag across the restaurant, as if to prove her point about it being in the way.

"You bitch!" screamed the woman, as she went to retrieve her bag from across the room.

"You fucking lesbians are all the same! You bring shame on women!" Just then there were waiters from the restaurant, grabbed the three women and pulled them apart.

"Come on love!" ordered a man, who came to join the woman with red wine down her top. He grabbed her arm and pulled her over to the table. "Sorry boys! The wife's just a bit upset! No harm done right?" He smiled sarcastically, as he managed to retain his wife from the urge to go and hit the other woman. The waiters nodded and moved away slowly, making sure everything was fine and that there wasn't going to be any more trouble.

"Fucking lesbians…" mumbled the woman "…Think you can do whatever you like!" The two women settled themselves down at their table and held hands. They had been doing that all night, while Alice and Dana were there. They were either touching, holding hands or lightly kissing. It seemed to bother the other woman, who sat with her husband at the next table, as she kept mumbling unpleasant things about them.

"I hate them!" shouted the woman again. "Fucking dirty lesbians!"

Dana sat back in her chair sharply as she felt Alice's hand wander across her own hand. She wasn't ready for going public yet, she wasn't ready for all the unpleasant remarks that would be fired their way from other people as soon as they found out. Alice stared at Dana with a frown upon her face.

"What's wrong?" she whispered, only loud enough for Dana to hear. Dana swallowed hard and tried to keep her eyes away from the attractive brown eyes looking at her.

"I think we should go!" Dana whispered back. She had grown uncomfortable with the situation in the restaurant.

"Why?" asked Alice "Cause of that woman? Don't let her get to you!" Dana shot a look straight into the eyes of Alice.

"What? Are you ashamed of me or something?" Alice asked.

Dana dropped her eye contact and stared at the tabletop. She knew she wasn't ashamed of Alice; she was falling for Alice hard, how could she ever be ashamed of her? No, she was just scared of everything. It's the fear of people judging them because they wanted something different from everyone else. Dana thought about the scene that had just happened in the restaurant and didn't want all those remarks made at her and Alice either. Dana realized that she still hadn't answered Alice's burning question, as she began to fidget in her seat. Her hands became sweaty. The thought of letting Alice down, or even worst losing her altogether would be devastating to her.

"I..." Dana started when Alice interrupted her.

"You know what, forget it!" Alice answered, as she opened her purse and took out some money. She threw the money onto the table, before she started to stand up. "I think it's best if I go home." With that, she began to walk around the tables to get to the door at the far side.

Dana sat in disbelieve as she watched Alice walking out of the restaurant. Without thinking, Dana stood up and raced after the figure that was disappearing out of her sight.

"Alice!" Dana shouted, as she reached the car park where Alice was searching for her car.

Alice climbed into the car and started the engine up just as Dana managed to catch up with the car. She opened the door and climbed in, before Alice had a chance to move away from the space.

"Al?" she said, breathing heavily, "Listen to me, I'm not ashamed of you! God, how could I ever be ashamed of you?"

Alice paused a moment and looked up sharply before Dana continued.

"I guess I was scared," Dana continued, "I'm scared of all of this! I've never really done any of this before, it's still kinda new to me! I think I have a right to be scared, don't I?"

"But, you don't have to be scared…" Alice answered. "You can always talk to me and…I'll be here for you, if you want me to."

Dana shook her head and closed her eyes briefly. "No, you see when it's just us, I'm not scared at all; I feel safe more than anything!" she explained "But when we're in public, I dunno, I just lose all my self-confidence!" She explained. "I know you're there for me and everything, but it's all those people judging me all the time! That's how I felt when the I came out to my parents. They judged me, my friends ditched me…" Dana said as her eyes started tearing up.

"Those assholes!" Alice yelled, mad that anyone had to go through that, "But Dana... Not everyone is like that, like your friends, like that fucking couple inside. I need you to understand that." Alice said as she smiled a faint smile, finally understanding why Dana was acting like that.

"I do understand." Dana agreed.

"I get scared too." Alice admitted. "But I just need to know that you're not ashamed of me…cause if you are, I'll walk now and save both of us a lot of heartache."

Dana paused a moment and looked strongly into Alice's eyes that were full of concern. She leant in and locked her lips with Alice's and picked up a rhythm, gently massaging her lips.

"I'm not ashamed of you…I'm just not confident enough to be all out in public." Dana whispered into Alice's ear, as they broke away.

"Ok." Alice said, smiling to her before driving out of the parking.


	6. Chapter 6

**Woohoo, I got me some reviews! Thanks for that!**

**On to chapter 6.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 6**

The drive to Dana's place was silent. Dana wanted to start a conversation but didn't know what to say. She hoped that Alice was really okay with all that happened about an hour ago. She had glanced over at Alice a few times when they were driving but Alice seemed to be deep in thoughts so Dana just stayed quiet.

"Here we are." Alice said softly as she parked in front of Dana's house.

Dana turned to look at Alice. "Do you want to come in?" Alice didn't seem to have heard her question. "Al?"

This time Alice looked at her. "Do you want to come in?" She asked again.

"Sure." Alice said, getting out of the car.

Dana got out as well and waited for Alice to come over. She wasn't sure what to do. Alice looked up at Dana and saw the doubts in her eyes, so she slowly walked over to Dana and took her hand. Dana looked at their linked hands and smiled.

"Come in." Dana said as she opened the door. "Are you okay?" Dana finally asked. Alice didn't seem to be her happy self and Dana knew it was because of her.

"I'm okay."Alice replied shortly. She saw Dana's face fall with her reply and went on. "It's just kinda crowded in here at the moment." She said pointing to her head.

"Because of me..." Dana sighed. "Al, I don't know what we have or are or..."Dana stopped looking for the right words. "…if you don't wanna see me anym…"

Alice quickly replied to this. "No! I said I was okay with it, I just..." Alice said, she came closer to Dana and put her arms around her waist. "It will just be hard at times you know?"

Dana nodded. "Thank you." Dana said.

"What for?"

"For being so great." Dana said with a small smile.

Alice smiled back as she leaned in to kiss Dana. They kissed slowly at first but then passionately, their tongues working perfectly together. Dana put her hands onto Alice's face and pulled her close. Both of them started to walk slowly towards the living room door, neither of them wanting to break the kiss. Dana moved her hands from Alice's face to her hair as she gently pushed her against the living room door. Dana ran her hands down each side of Alice's neck before running them down her arms to open the door. Dana struggled with the handle of the door, it finally opened but Alice was pressed against it so much that both of them fell down with a loud thud.

"Dana?" Someone said, jumping up from behind the couch.

"Carmen?" Dana replied, she jumped up quickly, surprised.

"Alice?"

"Shane!" Alice replied, quickly getting up as well.

All of them stared at each other for a moment. "What are you doing here?" Carmen finally asked.

"What do you mean, what am _I_ doing here? This is my house, what are _you_ doing here?" Dana asked.

"My TV broke down again, so Shane and I came here to watch TV…I didn't except you back so soon."

"It's almost midnight."

"It is?" Carmen replied. She looked up to a clock that hung on the wall. "Oh I didn't know it was that late already…sorry." Carmen said, looking to both Dana and Alice. "If I would have known it was that late already, we would have gone back to my place."

"Yeah, sorry for hmm interrupting, I didn't realize it was that late already either." Shane said, trying not to grin when she noticed Alice's flustered face.

"You were watching TV?"

"Yes." Both of them quickly replied.

"So you were watching the Indian news?" Dana asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked at the screen.

Carmen and Shane both looked at the TV before looking at each other. Shane mouthed uh-oh to Carmen before they turned back to face Dana and Alice.

"What were you guys really doing?" Alice asked, finding the whole situation amusing all of a sudden. Alice smirked. "Right…you were…?"

"Talking." "Eating." Both of them said at the same time. They looked at each other when they heard both of them said something else. "Eating" "Talking." They said, replying what the other had said.

"We were eating and talking while watching TV." Carmen weakly said. Alice and Dana didn't look convinced at all by her answer. "Excuse me, I need to use the bathroom."

Shane quickly shot Carmen a glare and as she walked passed her, Shane whispered, "Traitor." Carmen just walked faster into the hall. Shane looked at Dana and Alice again. She saw the smirk on Alice's face. "The news is educational." She lamely replied.

"So hey, thanks for leaving me there, by myself!" Shane said as Carmen and her walked out.

"What?" Carmen said innocent. "I got you out, didn't I?" Shane glared at Carmen. "Okay, sorry I left you there, but Dana is like a bloodhound when it comes to things I do! That woman can see right through me!"

"You think Alice can't? She so knows we weren't watching the news! And now she probably thinks we had sex or something and I'll never hear the end of it!."

"Yeah…maybe it's for the best that they walked in though."

"What do you mean?"

"I think…I…maybe erm…we should just stay friends?"

Shane looked into Carmen's eyes. Her whole demeanour changed. "Yeah…I think it's best if we just stay friends…"

"I mean, I need someone who will be there for me…someone who would truly love me."

Shane felt a tight pain in her chest. She knew why Carmen would think that but it still hurt to hear her say it. "Yeah…relationships fuck people up right?" Shane replied.

Carmen just looked at Shane. She saw a look in Shane's eyes but didn't talk about it. "So erm…you wanna come in?"

"I think I'm gonna go home, I'm pretty tired."

"Oh." Carmen's face fell. "Okay, so I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Yeah, I'll see you then." Shane said, leaning in to give Carmen a kiss on the cheek but quickly changing her mind. "Goodnight." She said as she quickly walked away.

"Goodnight." Carmen replied. She sighed and walked into her house.

"So want to tell me what really happened last night?" Dana said, as she opened the door to let Carmen in.

"Good morning to you too and no."

"Come on Carmen, I'm not stupid. I know you weren't watching the damn news."

"Dana…damn you for seeing right through me!" Carmen whined, walking out of the hall and into the living room.

Dana laughed. "Just tell me." Dana said, following Carmen as she sat down on the couch.

"Argh…fine." Carmen said. "We were watching TV and having fun until both of us got bored and…"Carmen said thinking back

"_A million channels and nothing good is on." Carmen whined. "Why is that?"_

"_I don't know. We can do something else."_

"_Like what."_

"_I don't know… something fun." Shane said._

"_Okay…something fun that is not gonna bore us after five minutes."_

"_A few things come to mind." Shane said with a smirk, leaning closer to Carmen._

"_Yes?" Carmen replied wanting to hear them._

_Shane just wiggled her eyebrows._

"_Shane! That's not gonna happen."_

_Shane laughed again. "Hey, you wanted to do something that wouldn't bore you after five minutes."_

"_Yeah yeah, but not that."_

"_And why not?" Shane asked, she was sitting against Carmen now._

"_Because…" Carmen said looking at Shane who was sitting dangerously close to her._

"_Yes?"_

"_Because…" Carmen said looking into Shane's eyes. She leaned in slowly. "Bec…" She wanted to say again but was cut off by Shane's lips on hers._

_Shane was kissing her hard at first but when she felt Carmen kissing her back she slowed down. They slowly and softly kissed. Carmen moaned as she felt Shane's tongue against her own. Shane pushed Carmen down on the couch and went to lie on top of her, never breaking the kiss. After a few more soft kisses, Shane's hands started to roam over Carmen's body. Carmen moaned again and tried to roll both of them over. The couch however was to small for that causing them to fall of it_

_Carmen fell on top of Shane, who hit her head on the floor. "Are you…" Carmen started to say but was cut off again by Shane's lips._

"And that's when Alice and you walked in."

"So if we hadn't walked in, you would have had sex on my floor?" Dana asked.

"No! I would have stopped it."

"Would you?"

"Yes." Carmen replied, trying to convince herself.

"O-kay." Dana said, not believing a word of what Carmen just said. "Just make sure that, next time when you will 'stop it', it's in your own house."

"I would have stopped it! And there won't be a next time."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I told her I just want to be friends." Carmen said.

"Why?" Dana asked.

"Come on! Shane doesn't want to be with me, not like that anyways."

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do, she said so herself."

"She said she doesn't want to be with you?" Dana asked, raising her eyebrows.

"No…she said she doesn't do relationships."

"And did she say that before or after you told her to be friends?"

"After." Carmen replied slowly.

Dana sighed. She knew that Carmen might have thrown something good away last night. "Carmen, if Shane would have said to you, "I just want to be friends", would you have said that you liked her?"

"… No…" Carmen said. "She said she doesn't do relationships! Shane is all about having a good time."

"Carmen, I did the whole "I don't do relationship thing" a lot of times before myself, now probably not cause of the same reason Shane says it but don't you think that, if all Shane wanted is a good time, she would have kissed you weeks ago?"

Carmen looked at Dana as if she was a ghost. "Erm…I…oh shut up Dana! I'm going back home." Carmen said getting off the couch as she quickly made her way out of the house.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"So basicly, she said she wants to be with me but not in public." Alice said. Shane and her sat outside and were both having a drink.

"Wow, what did you say?"

"I said I was okay with it." Alice replied.

"And are you? I mean after what happened with Debby?

"Yeah…it hurts what Deb did with me but Dana is different and I really like her. It wouldn't be fair if I didn't give her a chance just because of what happened with Debby."

"You really liked Debby as well, but she still left you."

"I know I know."

"I just don't want to see you get hurt again Al."

"I won't." Alice said. "Thanks Shane."

"No problem, I care about you, you know…even if you sometimes annoy the crap out of me." Shane said with a smile.

"I know, I have a gift to do that." Alice said, smiling back. "So what are we gonna do about you and Carmen?"

"Argh Alice, I don't wanna talk 'bout that anymore, you already made me tell you everything that has happened."

"Yeah but you kissed her and she kissed you back."

"Yes and she also said she just wants to be friends."

"Did you tell her you wanted to be more?"

"No."

"Are you going to?"

"No way, she wants to be friends and that's fine by me."

"Yeah right." Alice said. "So you are gonna be able to act the same around her."

"Yes."

"And things won't be weird around you guys now?"

"No."

"And you'll still hold her hand and dance with her whole night?"

"I …I don't know Al, she said she wants to be friends, what do you want me to do huh?"

"Tell her you want more."

"No! If she wants to be friends, we'll be friends and I won't do anything to mess that up."

"If you say so…"Alice said.

"Yes I'm saying so and can we please drop this now?"

"Sure."

"Thanks."

"What if Carmen starts to date someone else?"

"Damn Alice, let it go okay." Shane whined, but answered anyway. "If she starts to date someone else that's fine by me, we are friends."

"What if she wants to be more then friends as well?"

Shane looked at her. She seemed to look for answer as if what Alice said could be true. "She doesn't." Shane softly and simply replied as she walked back inside. Alice shook her head as she watched Shane walk away.

Alice was quietly singing and nodding her head to a song that was playing on the radio. "That's a nice song Shane, turn it up"

They were doing dishes when the song "Take Me Away"by Christina Vidal came on. Shane put down her dish and dried her hand to turn up the volume. Alice started singing along loudly as soon as the volume was in full blast.

"_Do this, do that, Can't deal, Can't deal with that, I tune in, tune out, ..._come on Shane!" Alice said as she sang the song.

Shane shook her head and just kept drying the dishes.

"_I've heard it all before, Hello, goodbye, Never asking me why, Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye"_ Alice has stopped doing the dishes and was now only singing, using a fork as her microphone. "Come on Shaaaane!" Shane was starting to nod her head, clearly getting into the song as well. "_On and on, And on and on, On and on, And on and on_." Alice was jumping around in the kitchen. "It's the chorus!" Alice came to stand next to Shane and handed her a fork with a huge smile.

Both of them started singing. "_Don't want to grow up, I want to get out". _They started, turning their heads to each other, singing loudly. "_Hey, take me away, I want to shout out, Take me away, Away, Away,_ _Awaaaaaay._" Both of them dropped down on their knees, ready to do the guitar solo. Shane grabbed the broom and mop by her side and handed one to Alice, using them as guitars. They quickly jumped around, thrashing and pumping their hands when they saw Dana and Carmen standing in the door, looking very amused.

"Wow you two should perform like this at The Planet." Dana said laughing.

Carmen was laughing as well. "Yeah, I see you girls have all the latest equipment." She said, motioning with her head to the broom in Shane's hand and the mop in Alice's hand.

Shane and Alice laughed, slightly embarrassed at being "caught". Alice walked over to Dana. "Hi." She said sweetly.

Dana smiled shyly at her.

"I'm glad to see you." Alice said, taking her hand and squeezing it lightly.

"M…me too." Dana replied, still shy. She wasn't comfortable with Carmen and Shane still in the room.

Alice smiled, she didn't notice that Dana was feeling uncomfortable. "So, can I have a kiss?" She asked.

Dana hesitated and shifted her eyes over to Shane and Carmen, who both quickly looked away. They seemed to have notice what Alice didn't. Dana leaned in and gave Alice a peck on the lips. She let go of Alice's hand and looked at Carmen and Shane again. This time Alice noticed and saw that Dana was uncomfortable. Alice couldn't help but feel hurt by this and Dana noticed that as well.

"A…are you ready to g…go?" Dana asked, a look of guilt on her face.

Alice looked at her. "I still have to finish doing the dishes."

"I'll finish them, it's okay, you go." Shane said.

"You sure?"

"Of course. Go on, get out of here." Shane said with a smile.

"Okay, thanks Shane. Bye." She said before walking out of the kitchen to go to her bedroom with Dana.

"I'm sorry." Dana said as soon as they were in the Alice's room.

"Shane is my best friend!" Alice said with a sigh. "Carmen is yours… why are you so shy around them?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry Alice, I know I shouldn't be." Dana said, feeling even guiltier. "I can't help it." she said quietly.

Alice sighed as well. "I know I said I was okay with it but these are our friends. They know we are together…I didn't think we have to hide from them as well."

Dana nodded. "I'm sorry." She said again while pulling Alice in a hug. "I'm sorry."

Carmen stared as Shane did the dishes. She was helping Shane with them, but they hadn't said anything much to each other.

"So how have you been?" Shane asked as she put the last dish in the cupboard.

"Well I had an appointment to get my hair cut..." Carmen said.

"Oh it's nice." Shane complimented, she held back a frown, she couldn't tell what was different with the haircut.

"... but it got cancelled." Carmen finished.

"Oh." Shane said. "Hmm... I can cut your hair if you want?"

Carmen looked at Shane weird. "No thanks."

Shane laughed and reassured Carmen. "I used to be a hairstylist."

"Oh, then sure." Carmen said with a laugh. "Why did you stop?"

"Well, I got kinda bored cutting hair and so Alice and I started the band." Shane said taking her stuff out of the closet. "There is only so much hair you can cut you know?"

Carmen nodded. "Sometimes I feel the same way."

"You wanna quit your job?

"No, but sometimes I'm thinking 'bout maybe getting another job." Carman started. "... but it's a nice job. Kit is like the best boss ever, and I meet the most awesome people."

"So how do you want your hair?" Shane asked taking a chair for Carmen to sit on.

"Oh hmm…you know what, I trust you to do what's best." Carmen said as Shane nodded and took her scissors. "Just not short!" She said turning around quickly.

Shane started running her hand through Carmen's hair. Carmen closed her eyes when she felt this. "_Bad idea Carmen_." She thought while Shane was running strings of her hair through her fingers a few times. Shane realized what she was doing and quickly stopped, she picked her scissors up and started cutting Carmen's hair.

"There." She said. "All done." Shane laughed as she put her scissors down. Shane handed Carmen a mirrow.

"Shane it looks great!"

"Hey, what can I say? I still got it."

"Show off!"

She ran her hand over Carmen's shoulders to get the hair had fallen on it. Shane bent down and blew on Carmen's neck to take away the hair there as well. Carmen closed her eyes as she felt the tinkling sensation. Shane walked in front of Carmen and crouched down in front of her as she ran her hand through Carmen's hair again.

"What are you doing?" Carmen asked softly, starring at Shane intently.

"I'm checking to see if the lengths on the sides are even." Shane said looking into Carmen's eyes. She didn't realize that she was sitting so close but didn't pull away when Carmen came closer to her.

Carmen stared back. "So, how does it look?"

"Beautiful." Shane replied, not moving her eyes away from Carmen's. Shane leaned in the last few inches and kissed Carmen softly.

**Hope you enjoyed it!**

_**Song is not owned by me: **__**Christina Vidal – Take Me Away**_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Sorry." Shane said, pulling away immediately when she realized what she was doing.

"Hey Shane I…" Alice said, coming in but stopped when she saw Carmen and Shane together. Shane stood up when she saw Alice. "Sorry, I didn't…"

"It's okay Alice, I have to go anyway." Carmen said, quickly getting out of her chair.

"Carmen…" Shane started but Carmen already had her bag in hand and was making her way out the backdoor.

"Erm, what just happened?" Alice asked.

Shane sighed, knowing she screwed up. "Nothing Al, what's up?" she asked, quickly changing the topic.

"Well, I wanted to ask if you could move your car…but it can wait if…"

"No I'll move it, I'll see you later." Shane said, running to her car and driving away without saying anything else.

"What up with Shane?" Dana asked as Alice walked out. Dana had been waiting in the hall as Shane ran past her without saying a word. "She looked mad."

"I'm not sure." Alice replied. "I think something happened between Carmen and Shane just now. Shane jumped up from in front of Carmen as soon as I entered the room. And Carmen left after that."

"Carmen left? I didn't see her walk by…"

"She ran out of the backdoor."

"Oh."

"Can we talk?"

"Shane, I'm working." Carmen calmly replied. "4.20 please." Carmen said, placing the order on the table. "Thank you." Carmen said taking the money before walking away, ignoring Shane.

Shane followed her. "Carmen, can we please talk?"

"No." Was all Carmen replied while she was walking to the bar.

"Fine, I'll follow you around, 'till we can talk."

Carmen sighed. She pulled at Shane's arm and led her to the back. "Alright then, talk." Annoyance booming in her voice.

"Erm, I…"

"Right, is that all?" Carmen said as she wanted to walk out again.

Shane was getting annoyed as well. "Just give me a damn minute, okay?"

"Fine." Carmen said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

"Why did you?" Carmen asked, wanting to know what Shane would say to that. Maybe Shane did want to be more then friend like Dana had told her?

Shane clearly didn't expect that question. "I…I don't know. It…it was a mistake okay."

"Right, okay." Carmen snapped. "Excuse me." She said, walking past Shane.

"What do you want me to say Carmen?"

"Nothing." She said as she walked out the backroom, leaving Shane.

Carmen sighed to herself as she walked back to the bar. She was confused about what happened. She wasn't sure if she could just be friends with Shane after all that happened. She saw a customer calling her and shook away the thoughts in her head as she walked over to the table with a forced smile on her face.

She reached the table as she felt Shane brush by her towards the door without even giving Carmen as much as a glance. Carmen sighed again, _"It's going to be a long day."_.

Shane sat reading the paper at the kitchen table. She was making herself a toast when she heard a knock on the backdoor. She looked at her watch and wondered who it could be that early in the morning.

"Hi."

"Carmen?" Shane asked, surprised to see her there.

"Can I come in?"

"I don't know." Shane replied, not moving an inch.

"Please?" Carmen pleaded. "I want to talk to you."

Shane sighed. "Okay." She said, opening the door to let Carmen in. Shane walked passed Carmen and went into the kitchen, leaving Carmen in the hall. Carmen sighed but walked after Shane.

"I would have come last night but I had to work. The Planet was so crowded and I…"

"What do you want Carmen?" Shane asked.

"I came to say I was sorry."

"Why?"

"Cause I was a bitch to you yesterday." Carmen replied. "You came to say you were sorry and I just ignored you."

"It's okay."

"No it's not, we are friends, I shouldn't have treated you that way."

Shane sighed. "Friends." She said to herself. "Are you sure that's all you want to be Carmen?" She asked. "Cause I know I kissed you, both times, but you didn't exactly stop me."

Carmen thought about what Shane asked her. The conversation with Dana came back in her head as well. _"If all she wanted was a good time she would have kissed me weeks ago wouldn't she? Maybe she does want to be with only me?" _She thought. "I…erm…I…do you want to be more?" Carmen finally asked, she didn't want to put herself out there.

"I asked you first."

Carmen thought about it again. She sighed. "No, I don't want more." She was mentally kicking herself already. She looked up to see Shane's reaction but couldn't read what Shane was thinking. All emotions were washed off of her face.

"Okay." was all Shane replied.

"So are we okay?" Carmen asked.

"_Better to have her as a friend then not have her at all." _Shane thought before answering. "Yeah, we are."

Carmen's face lit up. "Cool."

"Have you had breakfast already?"

"No, normally Dana comes over but she didn't and I wanted to come to see you."

"Alice and Dana went out last night. I didn't even hear Alice come home last night." Shane said, getting off her chair to get Carmen a plate to put her toast on. "Here ya go."

"Thanks." Carmen replied, taking a piece of Shane's paper as both ate and read in silence.

"Hey want to come to the movies with me some times. I really want to see this movie." Carmen said, pointing to her paper.

Shane looked over at Carmen and leaned down to read what it said. "Harry Potter?" Shane asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yes! You wanna come with me?"

"Erm…Isn't there anything else you want to see?"

"Ooooh come on Shane. Dana won't go with me to see that movie, she doesn't like them."

"Neither do I." Shane replied. "What about this one?" She said, pointing to the paper as well.

"Rush Hour 3? Eww no, I don't like those movies, I wanna see Harry Potter."

"Why would I want to go see that kids movie?"

"It isn't a kids movie!"

"It is! Rush Hour 3 is an adult movie. Full of action and fight sequences and adrenaline pumping kick-ass Jackie Chan!" Shane said, trying to make her point.

"For teen boys, yah." Carmen raised an eyebrow at Shane.

"Fine... give me two reasons why we should watch Harry Potter."

"One, Harry Potter is a huge success all over the world, with both _adults and kids_. Two, it isn't only a movie but it is based on a kick-ass book that sold millions of copies the day it came out."Carmen said, making her point as well. "So unless you can tell me that Rush Hour is such a success as well, I'll go with you."

Shane gave in as she saw the smirk on Carmen's face. "Fine fine, you win, Harry Potter it is."

"Thank you, thank you." Carmen said, pulling Shane close as she hugged her.

"Good morning, aww, you two made up." Alice gushed bursting in the kitchen. "Wanna tell us what was wrong?"

"Us?" Shane asked, she saw Dana coming into the kitchen as well. "Ooh, good morning indeed." Shane said, smirking as she looked at Carmen who had the same smirk on her face.

"Good morning." Dana replied shyly.

"So, go on, tell us what was wrong with you two." Alice asked again.

"It was a misunderstanding. It's all okay now." Carmen replied, looking at Shane who smiled faintly at her.

"Want some breakfast?" Shane asked, quickly changing the subject while she was getting off her chair.

"No thank you, I have to go." Dana replied with a smile.

"I'll walk you out." Alice said, moving over to Dana.

"No, that's okay." She said. "I don't want you to catch a cold." Dana quickly added as she saw Alice's face fall. She pointed to Alice, who was only wearing her robe. They had just taken a shower and Alice didn't change yet.

"Yeah." Alice said, looking over at Shane and Carmen before looking back to Dana. She wasn't sure what to do. She wanted to kiss Dana goodbye but hesitated.

Dana looked at Shane and Carmen and smiled when she walked closer to Alice. She put her hands on Alice's waist and kissed her sweetly on the lips. "Bye." Dana said as she pulled away.

Alice smiled widely. "Bye." She replied happily. She didn't expect Dana to kiss her in front of Shane and Carmen but was so happy that she did.

"Call me tonight?"

"Sure."

"Good." Dana said, giving Alice another peck on the lips before moving away completely. "Bye." She said to Shane and Carmen as well, who said their goodbyes as well.


	9. Chapter 9

_Thank you to everyone who commented._

_Hoping to get more reviews again with this chapter!_

**Chapter 9**

"I GOT IN!" Shane yelled. "Alice, wake up!"

"Argh, Shane, it's way too early."Alice complained, clearly not happy about being woken by Shane. "Since when are you so hyper in the morning?"

"Since I got in!" Shane yelled again, jumping up and down Alice's bed.

"Got in where?" Alice asked, turning over to see Shane's state of happiness. "And stop jumping on my bed." She complained.

"I got accepted in the music fair!"

Alice woke up immediately. "Oh my god!" She started to yell as well, throwing the covers off to sit up.

"I know." Shane replied with a huge smile "I've waited years to for this chance."

"You are taking me with you!"

"Why?" Shane said with a weird look.

"Because it's gonna be shown on TV!"

"Alice… the ticket is for one only."

"What?" Alice said, tearing the envelope away from Shane. "That's just stupid!" Alice said as she read the letter.

"Sorry." Shane replied. "You don't like these things anyway. You don't want to sing with lots of people, do you?"

Alice shook her head. "I don't. But this one is going to be on TV." She whined. "You are going to be on TV without me."

"I so am, aren't I?" Shane said with a huge grin, jumping back up.

"So not fair!" Alice said laying back down, hiding her head back in the covers. "You better mention me before you sing!"

"I always do Al."

"You do?"

"Yeah, of course I do, who else would I thank?" Shane said with a smile. "You would know if you had accompanied me to a fair before."

"You know why I don't like these things."

"I know, but the chance of Debby showing up there is really really small, Al."

Alice nodded. "You're right. Next time you are going to one, I'll come with ya… Oh I could bring Dana with me!." She said, excited about her idea.

"Cool."

"When is it?"

"Next week, hmm…Friday." Shane replied, reading the folder.

"Wow, that's quick." Alice replied as she got off her bed. "I couldn't have come anyway. Dana and I are going out."

"Yeah?"

"Yep, We are going ice skating." She said as she decided what to wear.

"Since when do you skate?"

"I don't, but it seems like fun."

"So it's an excuse to hold her hand then?"

"No…maybe…I just wish she wasn't this paranoid anymore." She said sitting back on the bed next to Shane.

"Give her time Al, she's comfortable 'bout kissing you and holding your hand when you are with Carm and I now, isn't she?"

"Yeah but that was two weeks ago." Alice whined again. "I just want to kiss her and hold her and… I want everyone to know she's mine, Shane." Alice said laying back down on her back with a loud thud.

"Maybe you should talk to her 'bout it again?"

"I don't know, I don't want to mess up our date." Alice said. "Speaking of date…when are you finally gonna go to the movies with Carmen?"

"Soon."

"Soon? You cancelled on her twice, Shane."

"I had to work."

"We work together."

"I wanted to finish the songs…" Shane weakly replied.

"You are just scared to go out with her!"

"I am not… why would I?"

"One, you are afraid to be alone with her." Alice said. "Two, you are afraid you will do something to mess things up between you two; Three, you are so into her that you are afraid that you'll fall for her even more… want me to go on?" Alice asked, counting on her fingers.

"I'm not into her Al…we are friends, that's all."

"Okay, then why haven't you been out with anybody else either?"

"Because I didn't feel like it."

"Uhu 'cause you like Carmen." Alice said in a matter of fact kind of way.

"No I just don't feel like going out much these days."

"So this whole not bringing girls over anymore has nothing to with Carmen?"

"Nope."

"You are such a liar Shane, just tell her you like her!" Alice said, raising her voice. She didn't get why both of them were so stubborn.

"Alice, for the last time, I do not like Carmen!"

"Yeah yeah, you keep telling yourself that. I'm gonna take a shower."

"So what is it about?"

"The music fair is an event that happens every two years. It's for musicians who come together and sing a few songs in different groups. And you get the chance to play all kinds of instruments as well."

"Sounds cool."

"Yeah and she's going to be on TV… without me!"

"Aww baby, but we are going ice skating…we'll have fun as well." Dana said giving a pouting Alice a kiss.

"That's true." She said with a smile. "We'll have fun when she's gonna be all stressed and nervous!"

"I'm not nervous Alice, I've dreamed 'bout going to one of these TV fairs for years. It's gonna be great, being on stage with like 15 other people all singing the same songs and playing all kinds of different instruments." Shane said, walking into the living room.

"Wooooow, someone's dressed up!" Dana said, looking over at Shane.

"You think I overdid it?" Shane asked checking her clothes. She was wearing black pants with small stripes on them and a black vest with a white shirt and a tie under it.

"No, you look very hot." Dana said.

"Hey!"

"What?" Dana said looking over to Alice.

"You said Shane looked hot."

"Well, doesn't she?"

Alice looked over the couch to look at Shane. "Yes… But I look hot too right?" She asked with a small pout.

"Aww baby, you look very hot." Dana said leaning in. "And super sexy." She whispered as Alice leaned in to kiss her.

"Oh god, I'm out of here." Shane said, putting her hand over her face.

Alice jumped up. "Wait! Have fun out there! I'll tape the thing for you so we can watch it tomorrow." Alice said giving Shane a hug.

"Thanks Al."

"And don't forget to mention me!"

"For the 700th time Al, I won't forget."

"Just checking." Alice said with a grin.

"Okay, I'm gonna go give these to Carmen and…" Shane said taking a few CDs of the counter. "…then I'm off." she finished checking her watch.

"Make sure Carmen kisses you good luck." Alice joked.

"Yeah, all the stress will just flow right off of ya." Dana chipped in.

"Yeah, but don't kiss her to long, or you'll forget to go at all." Alice and Dana laughed.

"Oh shut up you two, I'm going."

"Bye, have fun Shane."

"Bye." Alice yelled again before turning to Dana. "She's so into her!"

"I know, it's so obvious they like each other."

Alice nodded. "So…" Alice started as she got up and went to sit on Dana's lap, her legs on each side of Dana. "…I look super sexy huh?" She said with a huge grin.

Dana's grin quickly matched Alice's. "Uhu…you look hot, sexy, cute, loveable and extremely…" Dana said as she leaned in closer, their faces a breath apart.

"Extremely what?"

"Extremely kissable." Dana finished before closing the small gap between them to claim her girlfriends lips, and kiss her fervently.


	10. Chapter 10

_Alright, here's the next one._

_All Sharmen, All the time haha._

_Who doesn't love that right?_

**Chapter 10**

"Carm?" Shane yelled as she closed the backdoor.

"In here."

"Hey, I let myself in, I hope you don't mind… I…" Shane said stopping when she saw Carmen. "Are you okay?"

"Not really…" Carmen said, holding her stomach.

"What's wrong?" She said, rushing over to Carmen who was sitting on the couch.

"I think I ate something wrong …my stomach hurts like hell, I have cramps and I can't keep anything down."

"Have you taken anything yet?" Shane asked putting her hand on Carmen's forehead to check if she had a fever.

"Yes, nothing works… oww" Carmen said wincing as she felt a cramp again.

"This seems serious Carm." Shane said looking worriedly at Carmen.

"It will go away by itself." Carmen said, running her hand through her hair. "I'll just go take another pill." She said getting up. "Whoa." She said as she felt lightheaded while getting up. "Standing up is not a good idea." Carmen said putting her hand on her forehead.

"Okay, stay here. I'll go get it for ya." Shane said taking Carmen's hand to help her back on the couch. "What do you need?"

"My pills, they are on the kitchen counter."

"I'll go get them, you just relax." Shane said, walking to the kitchen. "Found them." She yelled from the kitchen. "Okay, here ya go."

Carmen took the pills and a glass of water from Shane and swallowed them in one big gulp. "Thanks Shane."

"No problem, I brought you the CDs you asked for." Shane said.

"Cool thanks, I'll listen to th…shit…" Carmen said, getting up quickly to run over to the bathroom.

"Carm...? Carmen this looks serious, maybe you should go to the hospital." Shane yelled from outside the bathroom door.

"No way, I hate hospitals. Patients are a bunch of numbers there, you never get any information and I can't stand how they smell." Carmen complained, walking back out the bathroom.

"Carmen, you don't look so good…" Shane said, putting some of Carmen's hair behind her ear. "Are you sure you don't want to go to the hosp…"

"No, I'll take another pill." Carmen said, holding onto Shane for support as they walked back to the couch.

"Carmen, that's not going to work if you can't keep it down."

"I'm fine." She said, putting her arms around her stomach again.

"Carm, you are in pain. At least go to the doctor then."

"I'll be okay…" She said while she was obviously in pain.

"You are not okay" Shane said, taking Carmen's hand while searching her eyes. "Please, just go see a doctor."

"Fine…I'll go."

"Thank you, I'll call you a cab, you are in no state to drive."

"Wait, you'll go with me, right?"

Shane checked her watch. She was running late already. She looked back up to Carmen who was still in pain. "Of course I'll come with you." Shane said, deciding that Carmen, who looked as if she was going to pass out soon, was more important. "I'll drive you."

"Wait, did you have to go somewhere?" Carmen asked, just now realizing that Shane was all dressed up. "Oh, the music fair is tonight isn't it?"

"No, that's next week…I wanted to check out a new place for a gig."

"Are you sure? I thought that you said it was tonight?"

"It's next week" Shane lied. "Tonight I wanted to check out _Black Moon Bar_."

"Oh then go, I'll take a cab…"

"No it's fine, it wasn't important, I'll just go another time."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, I'm staying with you."

"Thank you, Shane."

"Sure. Let's go." Shane said, taking Carmen's hand to lead her out of the house.

Shane had driven Carmen to see the doctor and was now waiting for Carmen to get out of the doctor's office. She had been waiting for what seemed like ages now and was getting bored. She had read every magazine on the table and was now walking around in the empty waiting room.

After looking outside and finding nothing interesting, she walked down the hallway, running her fingertips on the wall. Her hand came to rest on the light switch and switched it on and off a few times. She let out another sigh and turned around to see that an old lady had walked in and was now watching her. She quickly removed her hand from the light switch and smiled apologetically.

"Sorry." She said embarrassed and quickly sat back down. The old lady kept throwing Shane a stern look that made her very uncomfortable. She wanted Carmen to come out of the doctor's office now more than before. An eternity later, Carmen finally came of the office.

"Thank you doctor. Good evening." Carmen said to the doctor.

"No problem Carmen, just make sure you take your pills on time and you'll be fine." The doctor smiled. "Who's next?" The doctor asked looking at Shane and the old lady.

"Oh hmm, I'm with her. You can go 'mam." She said with a smile, looking over to the old lady who was still staring at her with the same stern look on her face.

Carmen watched as the old lady walked past them and went into the doctor's office, finally stopping her glare on Shane when she did. "What did you do?" Carmen asked suspiciously.

"Nothing." Shane quickly responded.

"Why did that lady give you the look of death then?"

"I swear I didn't do anything." Shane started but quickly gave in when she saw Carmen raise her eyebrows. "I… got bored and… I…might have played with the light a few times."

"While there were people waiting?" Carmen mused.

"No! I didn't hear her come in, she was there all of a sudden." She explained. "Anyways, how are you doing? Are you feeling better?"

"Not really. I have a damn stomach flu. But the doctor gave me some pills to stop the pain."

"That's good."

"And some pills to keep my food down." Carmen said, holding her stomach again when she felt a sharp pain.

Shane noticed this and put her arm around Carmen's back to guide her out. "Come on, I'll take you home."

"Okay." Carmen replied. "Thanks again." She said taking Shane's hand that was holding her side. "Man, it's really cold outside." She said as both of them walked outside.

"Oh, here take my jacket." Shane said, already taking it off.

"What? No, you will get cold, I should have brought my jacket with me."

"I'm not cold and you are already not feeling good." Shane reasoned. "Just take it, I'm not cold." Shane said

"Okay, if you're sure you are not cold?" Carmen made sure.

"I'm sure" Shane said, putting her jacket around Carmen's shoulders. "Better?" She asked as she looked at Carmen's still pale face.

"Yup, thanks." Carmen said as she still shivered. She put her arms in the jacket and rubbed her arms over each other. Shane saw that Carmen obviously was still cold. Carmen felt an arm snake around her shoulder and felt Shane rub her hand up and down against her arm.

"Better now?" Shane asked again, still rubbing her hand on Carmen's arm.

Carmen looked at Shane for a moment, surprised by her action. "Yes." She replied softly as she leaned in closer to Shane.

"Good." Shane said as they kept walking.

"Did the car moved itself to another city or something?" Carmen whined. "We've been walking for ages." She said, the strong wind that was blowing wasn't helping her get warmed up.

"We only just walked out of the doctor's office, Carm." Shane laughed. She looked at Carmen again as she felt that she had snuggled closer to her. She tightened her grip on Carmen and smiled as they kept walking, finally reaching their destination.

"Fuck." Carmen said as she fiddled with her keys as she tried to open the door. She ran into the bathroom as soon as she got through the door.

Shane came in a few moments later as well. "Carm?" She asked as she saw that door was still wide open but Carmen was nowhere to be seen. She closed the door and quickly walked into the living room expecting to see Carmen there. "Carm?" She yelled.

"In here." She heard Carmen yell back from the bathroom, "I"ll be out in a minute." Shane decided to wait for her in the living room. When she realized that Carmen hadn't resurfaced, she made her way into the bathroom.

"You okay Carmen? You've been in there for a while." Shane asked as she stood by the bathroom door. She knocked a couple of times, worried when Carmen didn't answer. Just as she was about to break the bathroom, the door opened and revealed a very flushed looking Carmen. Her hair was sticking up at all sides and she looked as white as a sheet.

"Come on." Shane said as she led Carmen to the living room. "Sit down. I'll get you a glass of water."

Shane came back with Carmen's pills and a glass of water. "Here, take another pill, you'll feel better soon."

Carmen grimaced as she swallowed the large pill. "Yuck." She said as she handed the empty glass back to Shane.

"Shane?" Carmen asked as Shane looked up at her. "Could you turn up the heat please?"

"Sure." Shane said, looking around to find the radiator. She walked over to it and turned up the heater. She turned back and saw a shivering Carmen. "You still that cold? Maybe it's best if you go to bed?" Shane suggested.

"No, I don't want to go to bed." She replied.

"Hmm, I could get you a blanket if you have one."

"Yes, they are in my room. There is one on the chair by my bed." Carmen said as Shane nodded and got up.

Shane came back and unfolded the blanket. She sat down and put the blanket over Carmen. "There, you should feel warmer soon now." She said as she re-adjusted the blanket so it covered Carmen's legs as well. "You need anything else?"

Carmen shook her head. "No." She said as she laid her head on the back of the couch.

"Have you eaten at all today?"

"Ugh no, I've been running to the bathroom all day long." Carmen said with closed eyes as she pulled the blanket closer to her body to keep her warm.

"Ok, I'll make you something now then, anything in particular you want?"

"I don't think I can eat anything at all now Shane."

"It's important to eat Carm, especially when you are sick." Shane reasoned.

"Fine, what can you make?"

"What do you want to eat?" Shane asked with a smile, glad that Carmen agreed to at least try to eat something.

"Hmm, how about porridge? I think I have all the things to make that." Carmen said as she held her stomach that was still bothering as well.

"Sure, no problem. You rest for a while and I'll bring you the food when I'm done." Shane said, getting up and putting Carmen's leg gently on the couch so she could lie down.

Carmen's eyes followed Shane as she went to the kitchen. '_Shane's so sweet, taking me to the doctor and taking care or me. And now she's even gonna cook for me, didn't even know she could cook. I'm glad she here with me." _Carmen thought.


	11. Chapter 11

_Happy New Year Everyone!_

_Hope you all had a great one!_

**Chapter 11**

"Okay…porridge." Shane said to herself as she began to get the things ready. She started looking in the cupboards to get all the right things. After she put everything she needed on the kitchen table Shane took a pot out of the cupboard and placed it on the stove.

"Shit." She said as her black tie almost dipped in the pot. "Stupid tie." She muttered to herself. She took it off and unbuttoned the first two buttons of her shirt. She rolled up her sleeves to prevent them from getting in the way as well and put her tie on the kitchen table as she glanced up at the clock.

_"First set is almost certainly over by now. They are probably at the solo performances about now."_ Shane thought to herself thinking about the music fair. Her thoughts where quickly washed away when she saw Carmen, the reason she was not at the fair, standing in the kitchen door. She smiled when she noticed Carmen starring at her. "Hey, you should be lying down." Shane said in a matter of fact kind of way.

"I know, I was just wondering if you found everything you needed."

"Yeah I did, I'll be ready soon, go lie back down." Shane said walking towards Carmen.

"I will…you sure you don't need help?" Carmen asked.

"No, I will be fine."

Carmen nodded. "If you ne…"

"Carmen, will you just let me take care of you?" Shane said, interrupting Carmen.

"Okay." Carmen replied softly, grateful that Shane was here for her. "Thanks." She smiled.

"No problem, now get out of _your_ kitchen." Shane commanded in a joking way as she ushered Carmen out of the kitchen.

Carmen went to lie back down on the couch and started thinking. _"Shane looked so cute when she tried to yank her tie off. She's so sweet to cook for me. Maybe she does really care about me? I wonder what she was thinking about though. She kept looking at the time. Maybe she didn't have to check out a new place to perform at all…Maybe she had a date or something? Why would she have dressed up like that if all she wanted was to check out a club? A date! Yeah, that's it. She probably had a date with some dumb girl who would be all over her and then they would fuck all night. But she did stay with me? Why would she…"_ Carmen thought, twirling her hair around on her finger, thinking about Shane so much that she didn't even hear her.

"Carmen?" Nothing "Carm, you okay there?"

"Huh? What?" she answered, knocking her out of her thoughts.

"I said dinner is ready." Shane said, placing a plate on the table.

-

"Two, please." Alice said as Dana and her were standing at the cashier booth.

"Okay, here are your tickets. This is the key to the changing room and you can just put your belongings there as well."

"Thanks." Alice said as she took the tickets and guided Dana over to the right room.

"Wow, the place is packed!" Alice said as they walked down the hallway of the building.

"Maybe it's cause we are here later then expected." Dana grinned, thinking back at their earlier activity.

Alice grinned as well as she led Dana in the small changing room. She closed the door and walked over to Dana backing her up against the wall. "That's totally your fault." She said, placing a small kiss on Dana's lips.

"It is not!" Dana said.

"No? Let's see shall we? I was putting my clothes back on when you walked over to me, naked, kissed me and …" Alice whispered in Dana's ear. "Licked me and… I'm pretty sure you did this next." Alice said, running her hands under Dana's sweater to cup her breasts. "Am I right?" Alice grinned.

"Sort of…" Dana whispered back, turning so that Alice was backed against the wall. "I'll do what I did to you again…" she said, running her hands down Alice's front. "…tonight." "Now let's get ready." She said with a smile as she slapped Alice's bum lightly.

"Dana! That's not fair, you're leaving me all hot and bothered now." Alice whined.

"Sorry honey, I didn't mean to." Dana smirked.

"Yeah right!" Alice replied, she took a step forward again and took Dana by the arm, swinging her around_. "Two can play this game."_ Alice thought.

"Alice! What are you…" Dana started, when Alice suddenly pulled her closer and kissed her with all the passion she had in her. She broke the kiss with a smirk on her face, when she saw the look on Dana's face. She gave Dana a pat on the shoulder and said "You're right, lets go". Dana didn't budge, she had her eyes closed and was breathing heavily "I…what…?" was the only thing she could mumble as she finally opened her eyes.

"I said, you're right, we should get ready." Alice said as she put on her ice skates with a huge grin on her face.

-

"I hate skatiiiiiiing" Alice yelled as she flew past Dana and once again slammed into the sides of the ring with a loud bang.

"You okay?" Dana asked as she stopped next to Alice.

"No, I suck!" Alice whined.

"You don't suck, you just need to learn how to break." Dana replied as she skated around Alice, who tried to skate away.

"Whoa…I'm gonna fall." Alice said gripping Dana's arm. "Why didn't you tell me you where so good at this?" Alice complained.

"You didn't ask."

"I look like a nerd on skates." Alice said as she let go of Dana and half skated, half stepped across the ring.

"No you don't, you're just too afraid to fall and you are thinking too much about it." Dana replied as she skated backwards, keeping her eyes on Alice who was moving an inch every minute.

"Well, I don't wanna fall and break my ass!" Alice said as she reached out her arms for Dana to grab, afraid she would fall.

"Learning how to skate involves falling down." Dana said as she took Alice's hands. "Okay, don't think, just skate." Dana instructed. "I said skate, not walk." Dana said, looking at Alice's feet.

"I'm trying!" After trying a few minutes more, Alice gave up. "I need a drink."

"Okay…how you gonna get there?" Dana laughed as she looked at Alice and then at the bar that was at the far end of the ring. She continued to skate around Alice.

"Hey, are you making fun of me and my awful skating skills?" Alice questioned.

"'Course not baby, here, let me help you." Dana said as she stopped behind Alice, put her hand on each side of her waist and pushed her across the ring. "There ya' go." Dana said as she lightly patted Alice's ass when they both entered the bar.

"Thanks." Alice smiled sweetly.

"Oh no!" Dana said as she jumped behind Alice.

"What, what?" Alice said, looking around to see what might be wrong.

"There is an old classmate of mine sitting at the bar. I'm so not up to see her." Dana said, looking from behind Alice's shoulder to see if she was still there. Just then the girl looked up and spotted Dana.

"Dana-kens!" She yelled from across the other side of the bar.

"Oh boy", she muttered to herself before stepping from behind Alice completely. "Wendy! Hiii!" She said in a fake happy voice.

"It's been so long!" Wendy said as she pulled Dana in a bear hug. "Where have you been hiding all this time?"

"Oh you know, been busy." Dana lied, annoyance clearly in her voice. "You?"

"I'm enjoying my single life." Wendy replied, looking at Alice up and down.

"Oh, you not seeing Faith anymore?" Dana asked. Wendy was openly gay since they where still in high school. Dana always envied her cause Wendy never seemed to be bothered about what other people thought. She wished she was the same in that way.

"Nope, I got myself out of that bear trap ages ago, I'm enjoying myself every night, if you know what I mean." Wendy winked as she still watched Alice. That was definitely not a part about Wendy she envied. Dana cringed in return as she saw that Alice was getting uncomfortable with Wendy's stare. "Hi I'm Wendy…" She said, shaking Alice's hand and held onto it. "Don't think we've met…?" Wendy said to Alice with a flirty grin, coming closer to her.

"And you won't! She's off limits." Dana said harshly, taking a step closer as well.

"Okay, okay." Wendy quickly replied, putting her hands up in the air as if she surrendered. "She your girl or something?"

"Yes!" Dana quickly said. Alice snapped her head to look at Dana, shocked that she admitted this. "Now if you'll excuse us, we are going to get a drink." Dana said, taking Alice hand and walking away without waiting for a reply.

"Bye." Wendy quickly yelled as she walked back to her friends.

Dana guided Alice over to a table in the back. "Did you see the look on her face?" Dana said fuming.

"What look was that?" Alice asked, smiling. Dana didn't notice as she kept rambling on.

"Like you where some kind of prey, she looked at you like…"Dana said, finally looking up "…you are looking right now…" Dana trailed off. "What?" She asked, finally calming down a bit.

"You called me your girlfriend." Alice said, proud.

-

"Sorry I didn't eat very much Shane." Carmen said as she finished eating with still half of it left on her plate.

"Hey no problem, I'm glad you ate something." Shane said as she took the plate from Carmen and carried it to the kitchen.

"Yeah but I feel bad that I made you make it and only ate like 10 spoons of it." Carmen said as she turned her head around to see Shane walk back out of the kitchen.

"Carmen, you are sick. It's normal that you don't eat as much then on other times." She said, sitting back down next to Carmen on the couch.

Carmen nodded. "You're right." She said as she yawned.

"You tired…Wanna go to bed?"

Carmen shook her head. "I'm not tired." She obviously lied. "Wanna watch a movie with me?"

"Sure, what do you got?"

"Hmm, I… Owww" Carmen winced as she felt a sharp pain in her stomach.

"You okay?" Shane asked, putting a hand on Carmen's knee, concern clearly written on her face.

"Yeah… Just a bad cramp." Carmen replied, still holding her stomach. "Ugh, I hate being sick." She whined. "And now I'm cold as well."

Shane picked up the blanket that was next to her on the couch and put it over Carmen again. "There ya go. Okay, how about that movie then huh?"

"Sure, can you pick one please?" She asked as she put the blanket more tightly around herself.

"I can choose?" Shane asked, watching Carmen who nodded at her saying it was okay for her to choose. "Okay." Shane said as she went to the TV and picked one out. "There we go." She said as she picked one out and put it in the DVD player. Shane went to sit back down, put her arm on the back of the couch and rested her head on it.

"Have you seen it before?" Carmen asked as she saw what movie Shane chose.

"No, is it a good one?"

"Ye…es" Carmen said as she yawned again.

"Cool." Shane smiled as she saw that Carmen put her feet against her chest so that she could fit under the blanket completely.

-

"I can't really follow this movie." Shane said as she looked at Carmen who's eyes shot open. "Oh you were sleeping…"

"No I wasn't, I was just resting my eyes."

"Yeah right." Shane said, unconvinced. "You sure you don't wanna go to bed?"

"Yes, I'm watching the movie."

"Okay." Shane replied, watching Carmen a few moments more before turning her eyes to the TV again; her eyes going over to Carmen every once in a while to see if she was still watching.  
Shane kicked off her shoes and put her feet on the table when she suddenly felt Carmen's head resting on her arm. She looked over and saw that Carmen had falling asleep.

Shane forgot all about the movie in that moment. She just kept watching Carmen who was trying to get comfortable. Shane softly and slowly moved her arm so that Carmen could rest on her shoulder. Carmen almost immediately did so as she moved closer. Shane couldn't help but smile as she felt Carmen's hot breath on her neck. She put her arm around Carmen's shoulder to pull her even closer and turned down the volume. She smiled even more as Carmen rested her hand on Shane's thigh and mumbled something inaudible. _'So cute.'_ She thought as she rested her own head on top of Carmen's as she continued watching the movie.

Soon the movie ended and Shane turned off the TV. Carmen was still sleeping on her shoulder and was now snoring lightly. Shane softly tried to get off the couch without waking up Carmen. She gently moved her arm from around Carmen. It worked and she was about to get up when Carmen woke up.

"I didn't mean to wake you."

"Sorry I fell asleep on you." Carmen said groggily, not longer trying to hide the fact that she was really tired.

"No problem, I just have to go the bathroom really bad." Shane laughed.

"Why didn't you wake me up then?"

"You need your sleep and you looked so cute." Shane said softly, smiling at Carmen who smiled back. Silence fell upon them as they just starred in each others eyes.

"Erm Shane?" Carmen said as she tightly put the blanket around herself again to prevent from being cold.

"Yeah?" She replied as she kept staring at Carmen.

"The bathroom?"

"Oh right." She said as she got off the couch and sprinted to the bathroom. "Hey Carmen, I'm gonna have a quick smoke outside okay?" She said as she came from the bathroom.

"Sure." Carmen said as she watched Shane walk away to go outside.

"There, that's better." Shane said as she walked back in. "Carm?" Shane said as she walked back around the couch to see that Carmen had fallen back asleep. "Carmen?" She asked again. She smiled as Carmen's only reply was a small smile. Shane softly picked Carmen up and carried her to the bedroom. She gently put Carmen on the bed and smiled. "Goodnight Carmen." She said as she tenderly gave her a kiss on the forehead. She went to sit down on a nearby chair, put her feet up and started reading a magazine.

-

"Come on Alice. You can do it." Dana yelled as she tried to convince Alice to skate over to where she was skating.

"No, I will fall."

"No you won't." Dana said as she stopped skating. "Just do what I do."

"What? Skate like a mad woman?"

"I don't skate like a mad woman! I like to skate fast, nothing wrong with that."

"Yeah right! If there were police here they would give you a speeding ticket." Alice complained. "Will you help me or not?"

Dana laughed and skated over to Alice, who quickly gripped her hands. They slowly started skating "Al! Your breaking my hand, loosen your grip will ya."

Alice did so as they skated around. Dana quickened the pace a bit and suddenly let go of Alice. "Dana! I'm gonna fall." Alice said as she wobbled over the ice. Alice fell down with a loud thump.

"Baby, I'm so sorry, are you okay?"

"No! Why did you let go of me?"

"Sorry but I thought you would be able to skate by yourself if I let go, know you like kinda when you're a kid and you learn to ride your bike?"

"Those methods suck!" Alice complained as she tried to get up.

Dana helped Alice up and turned her around to face her. "What can I do to make it better?"

"You could kiss it better?" Alice suggested with a smile.

Dana's mood suddenly changed when she heard Alice's suggestion. She wasn't ready to kiss Alice in public yet. But how could she tell Alice that? She had been so patient with her already. "Erm…I"

Alice quickly noticed the change in Dana. "Oh right, we can't kiss each other in public huh?" Alice said bitterly. "You sure you didn't let go of me cause we were holding hands and where skating so closely?"

"What? No of course not! Al, I…"Dana started, trying to explain.

"No, save it okay. It's fine." Alice replied, she was disappointed that Dana, even after all this time, still didn't want to show that they were a couple in public.

"Can't we just skate some more?"

"No, I'm not in the mood anymore, I'm going to change." Alice said as she stumbled to the side. Dana tried to help her but Alice quickly shook off her hand. "Its fine, I'll make it on my own. Wouldn't want anyone to see that you are here with me, now do we." Alice said gripping the edge of the ring to pull herself to the exit.

Dana sighed and watched Alice as she left the ring.

-

"Shane?" Carmen said as she woke up. She woke up in sweat and was shivering. "Shane?" She asked again as she turned around in bed. This time Shane woke up as well and got out of the chair.

"Hey, what's wrong." She asked as she saw Carmen shivering. She put her hand on Carmen's forehead and felt that it was glowing. "You're burning up." Shane said.

"I'm so cold." Carmen weakly said as she rubbed her arms around herself.

"Hold on, I'll get you a cold cloth." Shane said. "Here it will help to break the fever." She said as she came back in. She put the cloth against Carmen's head and softly rubbed her back. She felt that Carmen's clothes where all damp from sweating.

"I feel like shit."

"I know, it will get better."

Carmen shivered again and went to sit closer to Shane. She leaned into her to get a bit warmer. Shane held the cloth with her other arm and pulled her closer as she started rubbing Carmen's arm. "That better?"

"A bit."

"Okay." Shane said as she folded the cloth in another way and placed it back on Carmen's forehead. "I think it's best if you change out of these clothes though." Shane said.

"Don't wanna."

"It's not good to sleep in these wet clothes, you need to change." Carmen weakly nodded and tried to get out of bed.

"Ugh, can't I just sleep in these?"

"I'll help you, where are your clothes?" Shane asked as she saw Carmen struggling to get out of bed.

"In that closet." Carmen said as she looked at the closet.

Shane stood up and walked over to the closet. She opened it up and picked out new clothes for Carmen to wear. She also grabbed a towel and walked back over to Carmen's bed.

"Is it okay if I help you?" Shane asked Carmen who was almost sleeping in a sitting position.

She saw Carmen nodding and slowly went to sit on the bed. She took of her jacket that Carmen was still wearing. Shane hesitated and looked at Carmen again to see if she was still okay with her helping her out of her clothes. When she didn't get an objection from Carmen, she unbuttoned her shirt. Carmen was looking at her wordlessly and had a hard time keeping her eyes open.

"I'm sorry about your jacket. I'll wash it for you." Carmen said softly.

"You don't have to do that."

"No I want to."

"It's fine Carmen, really."

"Shane, I'm too tired to argue okay, just let me wash it." Carmen said tiredly.

Shane laughed. "Sure." Shane replied.

Shane quickly dried Carmen's back and pulled the shirt over Carmen's head, who put her arms in it slowly as she shivered. Shane took off her pants, dried her legs and put the new pants back on, with help from Carmen.

"There ya go." Shane said, looking up at Carmen who was still watching her intently. Carmen leaned forwards and gave Shane a soft kiss on her cheek.

"Thank you." She said softly.

Shane just smiled. "Try to get some more sleep, okay?" She said as she moved Carmen's hair out of the way.

Carmen nodded and lay back down. "Are you gonna stay with me?"

"Yes, I'll be here." Shane said as she got out of bed and tucked Carmen in. "You just sleep okay, it's almost 3am." She said, glancing at the clock.

Carmen didn't even reply as she already had fallen asleep. _"I'll never be able to sleep now."_ Shane thought as she took the blanket that was still on Carmen's bed and went to sit back down. She placed it over her and tried to get some more sleep as well.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Shane was half sitting, half laying on Carmen's bed. Carmen asked her a few hours ago to get her a glass of water and ended up falling asleep on Shane again when she asked to sit with her for a few minutes 'till she fell asleep again. Shane merely slept due the uncomfortable position she was in and the fact that the chair she was in earlier wasn't the best to sleep in either. Shane didn't mind to much though. She liked taking care of people but never ended up awake to take care of someone the entire night.

Shane finally fell asleep but woke up with a painful neck. Shane groanded lightly and moved her aching neck from one side to the other when her eyes fell on Carmen, or more the position they were in. Shane's one hand was up in Carmen's hair and her other hand had found it's way around Carmen's. Carmen's arm was over Shane's waist and was resting her head on Shane's stomach. Shane couldn't help but stare. She knew she should move and let go of Carmen but she just couldn't. The feelings that ran through her were nice, fuzzy, warm feelings. Feelings she didn't think she had ever felt before. Feelings she most definitely could get used to, and feelings she only felt when she was around Carmen. Only this time they were stronger, so much stronger then she ever felt them before when she was with Carmen.

She moved her hand out of Carmen's hair and rubbed her neck. She didn't want to lose contact with Carmen completely so she left her other hand around Carmen's.

She quickly let go of Carmen's hand as she felt her stir and wake up. "Good morning." Shane said softly.

"Morning." Carmen replied as she looked up at Shane. "Sorry for falling asleep on you again." She said with a smile.

"It's okay, you can fall asleep on me any time." Shane winked. _"Oh my…good job Shane, now you are flirting with her, kill me now."_ Carmen looked at her with an amused look on her face and Shane quickly said something else. "So, you feeling better?"

Carmen groaned. "Not really." She said as she laid her head back down on Shane's stomach. "I think my fever is gone but I still feel like shit." Carmen whined. "Thanks again for taking care of me." She said looking back up at Shane.

"You're welcome." Shane replied with a small smile.

"I've slept for ages and I'm still so tired." Carmen said as she tried to move in a better position. She pulled the covers closer to herself as she shivered and took Shane's hand in her own. She started playing with her fingers. "Did you sleep at all last night?"

"Not much…I wanted to make sure that you were alright so I stayed awake." Shane said as she look down at their fingers who where now intertwined.

Carmen's heart swelled up when she heard that. "That's so sweet of you." Carmen said as she gripped Shane's hand. "Okay, come down here." She said pulling at Shane's hand to get her to lie down completely.

"What are you doing?" Shane asked but laid down anyways.

"_We_ are going to sleep. Well I'm going to sleep some more and you are gonna start sleeping." Carmen explained as she laid her head on Shane's chest and pulled her arm closer to herself while intertwining their fingers again.

_Oh god, relax, if your heart starts to beat even faster you are gonna be in trouble, McCutheon."_ Shane thought as she tried to relax.

"Are you okay?" Carmen asked as she noticed the change in Shane. "Your heart is beating so fast." She said looking into Shane's eyes.

_"Too late. Busted."_Shane thought. "I'm fine." Shane quickly replied. _"That sounded so fake."_

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" Carmen said, moving away but Shane stopped her before she could get away.

"Of course not, don't be silly." Shane said putting her arm around Carmen to pull her closer, desperately trying not to lose contact with Carmen.

"Okay." Carmen said as she laid back down trying the hide the smile that formed on her face. She was glad that she was making Shane kinda nervous by being close to her.

"Carmen?" Shane asked.

"Mmm?" Carmen replied as she closed her eyes.

"Wake me up when you need anything, okay?"

"Okay, now sleep."

********************************************

Shane walked out of Carmen's room after waking up and finding the bed empty. She was a bit dissapointed not to be able to have Carmen still in her arms. She stopped as she saw Carmen and took her in. She glanced at her. Carmen had taken a shower and was wearing a nice set off pyjama's. Shane realised she was staring and walked in further. "Hey." Shane said. "Why didn't you wake me up? I could off done that." Shane said as she saw Carmen fixing a large breakfast for both of them.

Carmen looked up. "Hey…'cause you stayed up to take care of me remember." Carmen said as she placed the food on the counter. "Besides, It's also a thank you." Carmen smiled as she leaned in to try and give Shane a kiss on the cheek.

Shane however quickly backed away covering her mouth. "Morning breath." Shane mumbled.

Carmen laughed. "There is a towel and new toothbrush in the bathroom." She smiled.

Shane smiled in return. "Really? Thanks, I'll be right back."

Shane walked out of the kitchen and into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash up. She walked back into the kitchen after she finished.

"You shouldn't off done this, but _thank you_ for the thank you." Shane laughed at her own chose of words.

Carmen smiled again. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Yes, it was nice." Shane smiled shyly. "You should probably go lie down some more after this though."

"Why? I feel better."

"Because you were sick all night." Shane replied as she took a bit of her pancake. "You should take it easy so after breakfast you are going to lie back down."

Carmen wanted to protest but saw the look of determination on Shane's face. "Fine. I'll go." She agreed.

Shane and Carmen continued to talk while they ate breakfast. They where having a great time but Shane saw that Carmen was getting tired again.

"I'll do that, you go lie back down." Shane said when Carmen stared clearing the table.

Carmen agreed immediately. She was feeling really tired all of a sudden and was glad that Shane offered to help her out once again. Carmen nodded and smiled at Shane. "Okay, thanks." She said as she walked over to Shane, grabbed her arm and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. Shane could smell Carmen's sweet shampoo as she walked past her, her eyes following Carmen as she walked out of the kitchen. She was feeling all fuzzy inside again after she got that kiss from her.

Shane finished cleaning up and walked out of the kitchen and into Carmen's room. She walked over to Carmen's bed and went to sit on it. Carmen turned around to face Shane. "You think you're gonna be okay for a few hours?" Shane said as she softly ran her hand down Carmen's face. "I'm going to go home for a bit. Alice and I have to go over some new songs and then I might go sleep some more as well." Shane smiled.

Carmen nodded. "I'll be fine…" Carmen said as she took Shane's hand. "I'm just gonna be sleeping anyways."

"Okay, call me when you need anything?" Shane asked.

"I will." Carmen sat up and put her arms around Shane. "I'm glad you stayed with me last night, Shane." She said resting her head on Shane's shoulder.

Shane put her arms slowly around Carmen as well and closed her eyes. "Me too." She said after a few seconds. She let go of Carmen and looked at her. "I'm glad you are feeling better." She said softly as she moved Carmen's hair out of her face. "I'll come by later to see how you are doing."

Carmen smiled and nodded. "Bye." She said as she leaned in and gave Shane a soft kiss on the cheek and then laid back down on the bed.

Shane smiled warmly and tucked Carmen in before she got off the bed. "Sweet dreams." She said as she looked at Carmen one more time and walked out.

**************************************

"Hey Carmen."

"Hey Dana, what wrong?" Carmen asked when she opened the door for Dana to come in.

"Why would anything be wrong?" Dana replied but couldn't hide the sad look on her face.

"Spit it out Fairbanks." Carmen said as she followed Dana to the couch.

Dana sighed. "I had another fight with Alice."

"Same fight?"

"Yeah, I think she's tired off having patience with me." Dana sighed. "Can't blame her though…I'm such an ass."

"You are not, tell me what happened."

"We were having a great time yesterday, we were laughing all the time…joking and fooling around but then I messed everything up again. Alice fell while skating and she said that I should kiss her to make it better. She thought I didn't want to be seen with her…" Dana sighed. "Then she went to change and we didn't really say much after that anymore which is my fault as well."

"How so?"

"Alice was trying to start a conversation but I was to busy being mad at myself for putting the sad look on her face…and I didn't really know what to say to her about it." Dana explained.

"You should have talked things out."

"I know, I know. But I'm not able to say what she wants to hear. I wish I would get over myself." Dana sighed. "I think I'm going to go over there later to talk things out." Dana said with a smile. "Anyways...wait, what are you still doing in your pyjama's? Dana said as if she just noticed.

"I got sick last night and only woke up like 2 hours ago."

"Why didn't you call me?"

"I didn't wanna mess up your date with alice..."

Dana snorted. "Don't worry, I was able to do that all on my own."

"That and Shane stayed here to take care of me."

"Yeah but was about the rest of the night?" Dana asked.

"Shane stayed over the whole night."

Dana had a bit of shocked look on her face. "What? But what about the music fair?"

"Oh I asked her as well." Carmen said. "It's next week."

"No it isn't!" Dana said. "It was last night!"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am, I was over there last night when Shane was getting ready for it. Alice even taped the thing for them to watch together."

Carmen sat there in shock for a moment. "I should off known she was lying. Her guitar was in the back of her car. She never leaves it in there." Carmed said as she realized this.

"Wow Carm, I can't believe Shane missed the fair for you."

"Gee thanks Dana, now I feel even worse."

"I didn't' mean it like that…I meant, she must really like you Carmen." Dana said with a gentle smile.

"I feel so bad now, she missed the fair just because I was sick, I shouldn't off asked her to come with me to the doctor."

"Carmen, Shane cares about you. A lot!. You really think she would off left you alone?"

Carmen thought about it. "…No…I can't believe she gave that up to stay with me." Carmen said, more to herself then to Dana. She was touched that Shane did that for her. To give something up that was so important to Shane just to be with her. Carmen smiled. "I'm gonna go see her."


	13. Chapter 13

_Here's the next one, always, reviews much appreciated._

**Chapter 13**

Carmen patiently waited for the door to open. She was looking around and quickly turned when she heard the door open. "Oh…hey Alice."

"Wow, nice to see you too, Carmen."

"Sorry Al." Carmen said as she walked in and gave Alice a hug. "Is Shane here?" She quickly asked.

"Coming to see Shane huh?" Alice said with a smirk.

Carmen couldn't help but smile in return. "Yes, is she here?"

"Yeah but she's still sleeping. I haven't seen her yet either." Alice said. "Have you seen Dana yet?"

"Yes, I saw her this morning, she was feeling awful, Alice." Carmen replied.

"Yeah well, she should be."

"Just give her a bit more time, Al. It's hard for her as well, you should talk to her."

"I tried talking to her! She didn't want to talk about it." Alice complained. "So you just tell your best friend that she's an ass and that I'm done talking to her." Alice replied angry.

Carmen sighed. "Do you really want me to tell her that?"

Alice looked up. "Yes!…no….yes…no…oh I don't know." Alice sighed. "She's not making this easy for me, Carmen."

"I know but it's always been hard for her to deal with this." Carmen said. "But I know that she truly cares and loves you."

"She sure knows how to hide it from me then." Alice replied sadly.

"You don't really believe that do you? You know she cares for you right?" Carmen asked.

"I'm not sure of anything anymore Carmen. I can't deal with this right now." Alice replied even more unhappy. "So, you came to see Shane huh?" She said changing the subject and trying to act happy.

"Yeah, do you mind if I go wait in her room?"

"Why? What will you be doing?" Alice asked suspiciously.

"Nothing. I just need to talk to her."

"While she is sleeping?" Alice teased. "I'm just messing with ya…you know where it is." Alice said, moving out of the way so Carmen could walk by. "Just don't be too loud with all the "nothing" you will be doing" She laughed.

Carmen rolled her eyes and quietly walked in Shane's room. She glanced over to the bed and saw that Shane was fast asleep, spread out over the bed. She quietly looked around the room. She walked over to the drawers to look at the pictures that Shane had up there. Most of them had Alice and Shane in them. There where some other pictures of people she didn't know but assumed that it were Shane's other friends.

Carmen glanced over to the wall and saw a calendar there that said, MUSIC FAIR with a big smiley after it, written on it. She felt bad again cause she knew for sure now that Shane had given it up to take care of her.

She glanced up to the bed again and stared at Shane. She walked over and sat down on the bed. She smiled when she saw how cute Shane looked while she was sleeping. She reached out and softly caressed Shane's cheek. Shane stirred a bit but didn't wake up. Carmen smiled again. _I wonder if Shane looked at me as well while I was sleeping last night_." Carmen thought while she was staring at Shane. _Why would she look at me like that? Get your mind out of the gutter Morales_.

Carmen's eyes wandered down. Shane had kicked the covers away and was only wearing a wife beater and her underwear. Carmen realised what she was doing and stopped looking at her. She gently pulled the covers back up and covered Shane with it. She once again caressed Shane's cheek which made Shane wake up.

Shane opened her eyes and saw Carmen sitting on her bed. "Carm?" She said groggily. "What are you…are you alright?" She said more clearly as she sat up a bit, concerned that something was wrong with Carmen.

"I'm fine."

"What are you doing here?" Shane asked.

"I…" Carmen started, not sure what to say. _"She's right, what am I doing here?" "Should I tell her that I know or wait for her to tell me herself? I'd better say something quick cause she's staring at me."_ Carmen thought. "I wanted to see you." Carmen admitted. _"Wow that was real smooth, Carmen._

"You wanted to see me?" Shane asked, not sure if she heard Carmen right.

"Yes." Carmen said softly.

Shane stared at Carmen trying to stop the huge smile that was starting to form on her face.

"_Okay, she seems freaked out by that. Quick, say something else."_ Carmen thought. "And I wanted to return your jacket…" Carmen said as she was starting to stare at Shane._"Good thinking." _

Shane smiled. "You shouldn't have…hmm where is it?" Shane said.

"Where is what?" Carmen said, totally lost in Shane eyes.

"My jacket."

"_Damn."_ Carmen thought. "I forgot it at home." She had wanted to bring it with her to have an excuse but was so excited to see Shane that she totally forgot to actually bring it.

"O-kay, are you sure you are alright Carmen? You're acting kind of strange."

"Oh…I guess I'm still a bit tired. I must not be totally recovered yet."

"You want me to take you home?" Shane said, already moving to get out of bed.

"No!" Carmen quickly said, stopping Shane from getting out of bed. "I don't want to go home. I hate being alone while I'm not feeling well." Carmen admitted. "You must think I'm such a baby."

"I don't think that." Shane said. _"She's so cute."_ Shane thought. She patted the space next to her for Carmen to come sit next to her on the bed. "Come here." She said.

Carmen went to sit next to Shane and turned slightly to face her. Shane put her hand on Carmen's forehead. "You're fever seems to be gone." She said with a smile as she looked in her eyes as Carmen did the same. They kept staring into each others until Carmen forced herself to look away.

"Let's go out!" Carmen said suddenly.

"What?"

"Go out… let's go somewhere."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Carm."

"Why not? I feel better and we don't have to go out 'till late." Carmen replied. "Can we go take a walk or something?"

"Okay, I'll go change." Shane said getting out of bed, Carmen's eyes glued on her. "But if you start to feel bad again, we are coming back home." Shane said as she turned around, noticing Carmen's stare. "I won't be long." She smirked and left the room to change.

Shane went to take a quick shower, changed and walked back out to go get Carmen, who was waiting in her room when she bumped into Alice.

"Shane! How was the music…." Alice started but was pulled into the bathroom by Shane. "What the hell, Shane?"

"Shhh, Carmen can't hear you." Shane wispered.

"What? Why not?" Alice frowned.

"Cause I didn't go to the music fair."

"What!" Alice yelled.

"Keep your voice down, Al." Shane said. "I didn't go…when I went over to Carmen's place yesterday she was sick and I stayed there to take care of her."

"Wow." Was Alice's only response. "Wow….I'm not lost for words much, but now I am." Alice said to herself. "So, why can't Carmen know?"

"Because I told her the music fair was next week."

"Why did you say that?"

"If I said it was last night, she would have forced me to go and I wanted to stay with her." Shane replied softly with a smile on her face when she thought about Carmen.

Alice noticed Shane's smile. "You're in love with her."

"What? Don't be ridiculous." Shane quickly replied. "We're just friends Alice."

"That's right, you're friends..." Alice said, agreeing. "…who are secretly in love with each other." Alice finished. "Well not really secretly cause it's sooo obvious."

Shane sighed. "We are not in love okay." Shane said. "Can we just talk about this later?"

"So there is _something_ to talk about?" Alice countered.

"Whatever Alice, I'm going to get Carmen." Shane said. "Just don't tell Carmen about the music fair okay?"

"But I can tell her you're in love with her?"

"AL! That's not even funny okay."

"Fine, fine. I won't tell her about the music fair…" Alice said as Shane nodded. "and that you are in love with her."

Shane looked back at Alice and wanted to reply something but just shook her head and walked out the door instead.

Shane went to get Carmen. They walked into the living room where Alice was now sitting, noting stuff down.

"Hey Al." She said, as if she hadn't seen Alice yet. She hoped Alice would keep her promise and not tell Carmen about the music fair and play along.

"Oh hey, did you enjoy doing nothing?" Alice asked with a smirk.

Carmen rolled her eyes as Shane looked at her. "What?" Shane asked when she turned back to face Alice.

"Nothing, what's up?" Alice said.

"Carmen and I are gonna go out for a while."

"What about writing then?" She said, holding up the book she had been writing in. "The songs are not gonna write themselves you know."

"We can do that later, right?" Shane replied. "We won't be gone too long…" Shane said.

"And I already wrote one." Alice said.

"Really? You finished a song?" Shane said, walking over to the couch to see it.

"Well it's not finished yet…I need you to go over it with me and then we can make the final changes."

"Wow, it's really good Alice."Shane said. "But it's kind of depressing, if I didn't know better I would think that you are really unhappy." Shane joked but quickly stopped laughing when she saw that neither Alice or Carmen laughed. "What happened?"

"…nothing."

"Al?" Shane asked again, looking at Carmen for help. Carmen just stared at her, not saying a word.

"I had another fight with Dana." Alice said to Shane. "Can we please not talk about it…I don't want to deal with it right now." Alice quickly added as she saw that Shane was going to want to talk about it.

"Sure. No problem." Shane replied. "We will talk about it later then." Shane said. "I really like the song Alice." She said again, changing the subject.

"Can I see?" Carmen said, trying to peek over Shane's shoulder but she quickly hid the book from her.

"No, you can't see it." Shane said. "Noone can read our music. You will have to wait until we perform it."

"Ooh come on…Alice?" Carmen asked Alice, hoping that she would let her read the song that she had written.

Alice shook her head. "Shane's right, noone can read our songs."

"Fine." Carmen huffed.

"Okay we are going to go." Shane said with a small smile. "You going to be okay then?" She asked Alice.

"Of course, go, go, I'll be fine." Alice said. "Behave yourselves." She yelled as Shane and Carmen walked out.


	14. Chapter 14

_Thank you all for the nice words!_

**Chapter 14**

"It's so nice and quiet here." Carmen said as she walked closely next to Shane.

Carmen and Shane had been walking on the pier and were now at the end of it. They both stopped at the railing and just stared at the sea.

"It really is, thanks for showing me this place." Shane said as she looked over at Carmen, who nodded at her before looking away.

"I've always liked coming here since I was little. It helps me clear my mind and relax." Carmen said as she saw Shane grin at her. "What?"

"Nothing…just picturing you as a little girl." Shane said with a smile.

"And?"

"It's a cute picture." Shane said when she saw Carmen blush.

"Thanks." Carmen replied faintly. "Where do you like to go, to clear your mind?"

"I love going to places that are kind off deserted. I would drive there and lie on the hood of my car, staring at the sky or stars, depending on the time of day." Shane said looking at a ship that was passing by in distance.

"Sounds great, you should take me with you some time, when you go do that again." Carmen said. "If you want to that is."

"Sure. I would like that." Shane said with a smile as she once again looked at Carmen who was staring back at her with the same smile. "You want to go walk on the beach?"

"Sure." Carmen said as Shane and her turned around and started walking back. Shane was looking around and started walking closer to Carmen. She gently felt her own hand brushing against Carmen's. Carmen quickly looked down and took two steps back, tripping over her own shoes. Shane quickly stepped forward and grabbed Carmen's hand to prevent her from falling.

"Are you okay?" Shane asked as she gripped Carmen's hand tighter and pulled her back up to steady herself.

"Yeah." She said, looking down at their hands.

"Sorry." Shane said, letting go of Carmen's hand.

"Oh no no." Carmen said as she took Shane's hand back in hers. Carmen smiled at Shane as they continued walking down the pier.

They kept walking until they where at the end of the pier. Both of them, still holding hands, walked to the narrow staircase that would lead them to the beach. Reluctantly, Shane let go off Carmen's hand and let her walk the staircase first. When both of them where at the beach Shane hesitated to take Carmen's hand again. She looked up and down a few times before shoving her hands in her pockets. Carmen noticed this and gave Shane a nervous smile.

"You wanna sit down?" Carmen asked.

"Sure." Shane said and both of them went to sit down on the soft sand.

Carmen looked around nervously before looking at Shane. "Shane?" Carmen asked.

"Yeah?"

"Why did you lie to me about the fair?" Carmen said, asking the question she had been wanting to ask for a while now.

"What?" Shane quickly looked at Carmen, shocked that she knew about the fair.

"The fair, why didn't you tell me it was last night?"

"I…you where sick." Shane pointed out, not really sure what to say and not really knowing how to answer the question.

"So?"

"So?" Shane asked. "You would have made me go."

"Of course I would have."

"It just didn't feel right Carm, you where sick and I wanted to take care of you."

"You should've told me."

"It could've been serious Carmen. The fair would have been great, but I can always apply to go next time. I just didn't want to leave you alone."

"I feel bad Shane, you wanted to go so bad and you missed it because of me." Carmen said.

Shane moved to sit closer to Carmen and turned to her. "Carmen, I wouldn't have been able to enjoy myself knowing that you where sick." Shane explained. "I was where I wanted to be, okay?" Shane said softly.

Carmen remained silent for a few seconds before pulling Shane into a hug. "Thank you." She said, holding onto Shane.

Shane laughed. "You're welcome Carm, anytime." She said, enjoying the hug Carmen was giving her.

"Okay."Carmen said as she let go of Shane. "I want to thank you." She said as she jumped up. "Let's go out tonight." Carmen suggested, looking down at Shane, who was still sitting.

"I think you should rest tonight." Shane said. "You where sick all night, remember?"

"Fine." Carmen said with a huff. "Tommorow night?" She asked hopeful.

"Sounds good to me." Shane said with a smile.

"I'm paying." Carmen said.

"Carm…" Shane started protesting.

"I'm paying Shane." Carmen said.

"Okay, okay." Shane said, holding her hands up in surrender.

"Deal?" Carmen said, holding her hand out.

Shane nodded and laughed. "Deal." She said taking Carmen's hand and pulling herself up. Carmen continued to hold Shane's hand.

"So, what should we do tommorow?" Carmen asked as she swung their hands back and forth gently, as they walked further onto the beach, discussing what they would do tommorow night.

Alice was making some changes to her lyrics when she heard a knock on the front door. She opened the door and sighed as she saw who it was.

"I'm an asshole."

"You are." Alice said, agreeing. Alice walked away but left the door open for the other person to walk in.

"I'm sorry Alice, please forgive me." The person said, quickly closing the door and following Alice.

"I don't know Dana." Alice said, sighing once more.

Dana walked over to Alice and put her hands on Alice's waist. "Please baby, I really do want to be with you." she said, pleading with Alice.

"It doesn't look like you do." Alice asked softly, looking away.

"I know and I'm sorry about that." Dana said sadly. "Please, I want to make it up to you." Dana said. "How can I make it up to you?" Dana asked.

"I don't know if you can." Alice said, looking Dana in the eye.

"Please Al, let me take you out tonight and prove it to you." Dana asked.

"Shane and I planned to write tonight." Alice replied looking back down. She wasn't sure if she should give in or not.

"Tommorow night then?" Dana said, bending down a bit to search Alice's eyes. Alice remained silent. "Please?" Dana pleaded again.

"Okay." Alice said giving in.

"Yeah?" Dana said with a smile.

Alice nodded. "You better not hurt me again." She said.

"I won't, I promise." Dana smiled. "Thank you." Dana said, leaning in and giving Alice a soft, sweet kiss.

"Al, were ba…aww you two made up huh?" Shane said as she walked in with Carmen.

"Hey you two." Carmen smiled as she saw Dana and Alice together. They where both lying on the couch, Alice's head resting on Dana's stomach as Dana was running her hands softly through Alice's hair. Both of them lazily waved and continued to enjoy each others company.

"How are you feeling Carm?" Dana asked.

"Much better, still feeling a bit tired but I'm getting there." Carmen said as she sat down and looked to Dana and Alice on the couch.

"You where sick Carmen?" Alice asked, still in her role of covering for Shane.

"Yeah but someone took good care of me." Carmen said as she looked over at Shane with a smile. Shane sweetly smiled back at her.

"Shane took care of you huh? Good thing it was this week cause if it would have been next week, Shane would have been at the fair." Alice said, giving Shane a wink while Carmen wasn't looking.

Carmen and Shane both laughed. "Al, it's okay, she knows." Shane said.

"Knows what? That the fair is next week?"

"No, she knows the fair was last night and that I stayed with her cause I wanted to take care of her." Shane smiled.

"Aww." Both of Dana and Alice said. "That's so sweet." Dana said.

"Yeah yeah, I would do it for everybody okay." Shane said, wanting to get the attention off of her. Carmen's face fell slightly when she heard this.

"Would you?" Alice asked, daring her to anwser.

Shane jumped off of the couch. "…'Course…Well not _everybody_ but you know…" Shane turned when she was out of Alice and Dana's sight. "…people that are very imported to me." Shane smiled at Carmen, who couldn't help but smile as well, as she walked into the kitchen.

"Awww, so sweet!" Dana said as she looked from Carmen to Alice, who gave her a knowing smile. "And look at you…all smiley know."

"Oh shut up Dana."

"Yeah Dana, leave her alone, the girl is in love." Alice couldn't help but tease as well.

"You two are crazy." Carmen said, she felt her cheeks getting warmer and knew she was starting to blush.

"What are you all talking about?" Shane asked as she came back out of the kitchen holding a few drinks.

"Nothing." Carmen quickly said.

"O-kay. I brought drinks for everyone." Shane said, holding up the bottles. "Carm, I brought you something different, cause you know… you where sick and it's not the best idea to drink alcohol."

"Thanks Shane." Carmen smiled as she took the bottle of soda out of Shane's hand.

"You're welcome." Shane said as she gave the others their drinks and went to sit back down next to Carmen.

"Oh Shane." Alice started. "Kit called earlier. She wants us to perform next week again." Alice smiled as she went to sit up to take a sip of her drink.

"Cool. When?"

"Hmm…" Alice picked up her book, where she wrote down the details. "Next Friday at 8."

"Okay…We'll have to work on our songs then huh?"

"Yeah…We will need to work are butts off to get it done."

"Well, you wrote one earlier so we only need a few more right?" Shane asked.

"No, I don't want to use that one, we need happy songs." Alice said, smiling at Dana.

Shane smiled as well, happy that her best friend was her normal, happy self again.

"I think that's my cue to leave." Carmen said.

"Oh no, you don't have to." Shane said, putting her hand on Camren's knee to prevent her from getting up.

"No, It's okay, I'm getting tired again anyways so I'm going home to relax for a while." Carmen said, as she got up from the couch.

"I think I'm going to go as well." Dana said as Alice pouted. "I still have to get some shopping done." She explained. "I'll call you later." Dana said as she gave Alice a kiss. "Bye."

"Bye, I'll see you tomorrow." Alice smiled.

"Yes you will." Dana said as she once more gave Alice a kiss before walking over to Carmen who was waiting for her.

"And I'll see _you_ tomorrow." Carmen said to Shane, who stood up as well.

Shane nodded. "Yep, I'll pick you up at 8."

"Okay." Carmen smiled as she gave Shane a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Bye Alice." Carmen waved at Alice who waved back.

"Bye baby, bye Shane." Dana said as she walked out.

Shane waved one last time and closed the door.

"So you are going out on a date with Carmen huh?" Alice said, as she stood behind Shane.

"Alice, don't sneak up to me like that!" Shane complained. "And it's not a date, it's a thank you for taking care of her."

"So it's a thank you date." Alice said with a smirk walking after Shane into the living room.

Shane shook her head. "You are unbelieveable, you know that?"

"I know, it's one of my many fine wonderful skills." Alice replied.

"Well, you think you can call on your writing skills right now so we can write some songs?"

"Sure. Let's do it." Alice said as she jumped off the couch to get her note pad, while Shane went to get there guitars.


	15. Chapter 15

_Onto the next one _ , _enjoy!_

[b] **Chapter 15** [/b]

"So Shane, about your date with Carmen..." Alice said while she was getting ready to be picked up by Dana.

"It isn't a d…"

"…are you finally gonna put on the McCutheon charm and woo her over…not that it will take much woo-ing seeing as Carmen is totally into you."

Shane was about to reply by telling Alice to cut it out when she thought about it for a few seconds. _"Should I make a move on Carmen?"_ She thought. "You think I should?"

Alice looked at her in shock. "You're thinking about it?"

"Alice! You just asked me."

"Yeah but I was teasing you, like I always do. I didn't think you'd actually consider it."

"You're not helping me!"

"Okay, okay. All joking aside now, yes I think you should." Alice said. "Shane, if you really like her, like I think you do, then, yes, you should." She said, looking at Shane. "Question is, do you really care enough for her to woo her over and actually build something up with her?" Alice said, patting Shane on the shoulder as she walked past her.

Shane checked her watch as she parked her car in front of Carmen's house. "7:45, 15 minutes to early." Shane thought while making her way to the frontdoor. She rung the doorbell and fixed her clothing and hair one last time as she waited for Carmen to open the door. "Hey Carmen, sorry I'm…" Shane stopped when she saw Carmen.

"Shane? You okay?" Carmen asked, as she opened the door fully and moved to stand in front of Shane.

"Huh? Yeah yeah I'm fine…" Shane said, still staring at Carmen. "…wow, you look gorgious." Shane said. "I feel underdressed now." Carmen was wearing a nice, blue v-line sweater and matching skirt.

Carmen blushed. "Thanks Shane, you look really nice too" Carmen replied, smiling at Shane. "Come in, I'm not finished yet." She said as Shane and her walked in.

"Yeah sorry about that." Shane said, checking Carmen out as the Latina put on her shoes. "Dana and Alice were home and I wanted to give them some privacy in case they still needed to talk about stuff."

"It's okay, I'm nearly finished." Carmen said. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Sure."

Carmen went into the kitchen and grabbed two bottles of beer. "There ya go." She said as she walked back out and handed Shane her drink.

"Thanks."

"So, do you think Alice and Dana are okay now?"

"I'm not sure, Alice was pretty down yesterday. I haven't seen her like this very often."

"Yeah but they seemed fine after we came back, right?"

"I'm not sure if Alice was totally fine with it all. When we were rehearsing, she zoned out a few times." Shane said, taking another sip of her beer. "I could tell something was wrong but she didn't want to talk about it which is a first as well." Shane said, with a laugh. "I hope they will be fine though."

"Me too, Dana really cares for Alice, it's just hard for her." Carmen said. " _I'm not one to talk, I'm afraid to even act on my feelings."_ she thought to herself.

"I guess sometimes it's hard to see what's right infront of you." Shane said, looking at Carmen intently.

"Shane…I …" Carmen started.

"Yeah?" Shane said, leaning forward in her seat, curious as to what Carmen wanted to say.

"I…am going to finish getting ready." She said, nervously finishing her drink and heading for the bathroom before Shane had a chance to reply.

_Relax Shane, you can do this._ Shane thought, letting out a breath of air.

"Okay, I'm ready." Carmen said as she came back out of the bathroom. She went to pick up her jacket and took her purse in hand, ready to go.

Shane stood up and went to the front door. She opened it for Carmen and smiled as Carmen walked out giving her a smile. Carmen locked the door and together they made their way over to Shane's car. Shane walked over to the passenger side and held it open for Carmen.

"What are you doing?" Carmen asked.

"I…I'm opening the door for you." Shane said nervously.

"Not that . . . I said I was going to drive tonight didn't I?" Carmen said.

"Oh…well I was hoping you would have forgotten about that." Shane laughed, thinking back at their talk.

"Nope didn't forget, so let's go to my car." Carmen said, laughing also. "Oh and Shane…" She started. "Thanks." She finished when she had Shane's attention. She motioned to the door that Shane had now just closed. Shane smiled and happily walked over to Carmen's car.

"Man, that bar sucked!" Carmen said laughing really hard.

"Yeah, that was a good idea of mine huh?" Shane said sarcastically.

"Very! Grrr, we weren't being loud, all those other people in there were just boring and quiet."

"I know, I think half of the people in there where dead." Shane said laughing. She put her arms around Carmen's shoulders. "Well don't you worry, I'll find us a new and much cooler bar!" She said with a laugh.

"I think you've had enough already!" Carmen said. _She's so cute when she's tipsy. I wonder if she's hugging me because of that or if she just really wants to._ Carmen thought.

"Are you saying I'm drunk?" Shane gasped.

"You aren't then?" Carmen asked.

"No! But I think you are."

"Why am I drunk?" Carmen asked intrigued.

"Because you drank the same as me..." .

"Okay, fine! I'm tipsy and you're…drunk." Carmen stated. She put her arm around Shane's back who still had her arm around Carmen's shoulder.

Shane shrugged her shoulders and gave up. "What about this bar?" She said as she saw a bar across the street.

"That's an old men's bar." Carmen stated. " _I_ will find us a good one."

"Why do you get to choose one?"

"Because I have lived here longer and you cleary suck at choosing them." Carmen said as she looked at Shane. "Did you just pout?" She asked, stopping in her tracks.

"No, Shane doesn't pout." Shane said about herself as she let go of Carmen.

"Well, whatever it was, it was really cute." Carmen winked at Shane with a sexy smile.

"Aaah yes, I'm very cute." Shane said as she took a step closer to Carmen. "But you are much cuter."

Carmen smiled when she heard this. She took a step closer as well and took Shane's hand. "Come on, Casanova, we're here." She said with a flirty smile as she walked away, dragging Shane with her as they were still holding hands.

"Where is here?"

"This is the closest bar near the movies." Carmen said while she led Shane to the back of the bar. "I love it here."

"So you've been here a lot?" Shane asked as she went to sit next to Carmen on a comfy couch.

"Yes, it's a nice place to come to and you can actually have fun here." She laughed, thinking about the bar Shane chose earlier.

"Did you come here with a lot of other girls? Shane asked curiously.

"Why?" Carmen asked with a sudden interest. "Would you be jealous if I said yes?" She asked quietly as she leaned in closer to Shane.

"No…I'm just wondering..." Shane started.

"Wondering what?"

"Did you go with them to the back also?" She asked with a grin as she looked around. This part of the bar was kinda closed off and darker then the rest of the place. And she was pretty sure she saw a couple making out on one of the couches when they walked in.

Carmen leaned in and wispered in Shane's ear. "Nope, only the _really_ good ones deserve to be here with me."

"I'm honored." She smirked.

Carmen nodded. "You should be." She laughed. "I'm going to get us some drinks, we'll have to wait forever otherwise." Carmen said as she got off the couch and walked around the table to get to the bar.

Shane watched as Carmen walked away. She smiled when she saw Carmen looking at her as she waited for her drinks. Carmen gave her a cute little wave that made Shane smile even more. She waved back and saw Carmen pay for the drinks and then make her way over to the couch again.

"There ya go." Carmen said as she handed Shane her drink.

"Thanks." She said, taking a sip of her beer. She saw Carmen laughing and looked at her. "What?"

"Oh I was thinking about something that happened here a few years ago."

"Do I want to know?" Shane asked.

"Oi…" Carmen slapped Shane's arm, who laughed at it. "It's nothing like that." She said. "A few years ago Dana organised my birthday party here and she hired a karaoke to make me sing infront everyone!" Carmen said. "Did you know that Dana is a great singer?" Carmen asked Shane who shook her head. "She is. She was like, come on Carmen, let's sing a duet." Carmen went on. "Her voice is amazing, I was so embarrassed to sing and…why are you looking at me like that?" Carmen said as she saw Shane's smile.

"Can you get any cuter?" Shane asked.

"What?" Carmen smiled, thinking she misheard Shane.

"_I can't take this anymore_." Shane thought, needing to feel Carmen, to taste her skin. She closed the space between them and pulled Carmen close. Lips crashing onto her own. She heard her own name being mumbled into her lips but didn't break the kiss.

She felt Carmen's fingers run through her hair. Carmen mumbled Shane's name again and the kiss stopped. Suddenly there's space between them again. Both of them try to regain there breathing.

"What are we doing?" Carmen asked.

"We're kissing." Shane said, her hands going to Carmen's hips, pulling her closer again.

"I think we should stop..." Carmen said looking at Shane, who looked dissapointed by her reply. Shane let go of Carmen's hips and took another sip of her drink, nodding her head as to say she agreed with her. "…or maybe not." Carmen said, putting her hands on Shane's cheeks to turn her head. She crashed her lips against Shane's and kissed her. This time it was more forceful then the first time.

Shane pulled away and smiled brightly at Carmen. She ran her hand over Carmen's cheek. Both of them felt their hearts beating in their ears as Shane leaned forward and kissed Carmen again. She gave Carmen the most tender kiss ever, softly brushing her lips over Carmen's with a great amount of passion.

Lips parted and their tongues touched, slowly and sensually, becoming more demanding as their tongues started duelling. Shane broke the kiss, and gasped for air while putting her arm around Carmen's waist to pull her even closer. She started kissing Carmen's neck who softly moaned when she felt Shane's tongue come in contact with her skin.

"We might get kicked out of here too if anyone sees us." Shane said, still placing kisses on Carmen's neck.

"Don't care, it would be totally worth it." Carmen said, her breathing uneven.

Shane broke the kiss again. "But you love it here." She said, smiling at Carmen who looked flustered. She gave Carmen another peck on the lips and took her hand.

"I do." She said, nodding that she loved the bar.

"How do you feel about the movies?" Shane asked with a grin.

"I could live without it." Carmen said, returning the grin. "Or go to the one across town."

They both looked at each other before they quickly finished their drink and got off the couch, ready to leave. They hurried out of the bar, holding each other close.

"So, what movie do you want to watch?" Carmen asked Shane, who was standing behind her, kissing her neck.

"You still want to go watch Harry Potter?" Shane asked Carmen as they where looking at the list of movies playing that night.

"Yeah but you have to choose a movie that you want to see."

"Well I want to watch that one with you then." Shane said, pecking Carmen on the lips as she turned her head to look at Shane.

"You're so sweet when you're drunk, you know that?" Carmen said, turning in Shane's arms.

"Hey, I'm always sweet." Shane complained, pulling her head away just as Carmen wanted to kiss her. "Right?"

"Yeah, you are." Carmen agreed as she pulled Shane's head closer to kiss her. "Come on, let's get inside." Carmen said as she went to get their tickets, Shane close behind her, holding her by the waist.

"Do you want something to eat and drink?" Shane asked.

"Of course!"

"Beer and popcorn?" Shane asked, already knowing the anwser. Carmen nodded and smiled at Shane. "Okay, you can go pick our seats if you want."

"Shane, you do know what these waiting lines are called right?"

"Huh?" Shane said, not understanding what Carmen ment.

"The whole waiting for your food lines..." Carmen said as she put her arms around Shane's waist. "Well, they are better known as the "kiss and hug" waiting lines." Carmen said.

"They are?"

Carmen nodded. "Yep and I used to work here when I was younger so I know everything about it." Carmen replied.

"You worked here? Wasn't it boring to do?"" Shane asked.

" 'Course not, it was a blast! But come on, it's time for hugs and kisses." She said, giving Shane another peck on the lips before turning around and pulling Shane behind her again, holding her hand. Shane grinned and walked after Carmen. She once again put her arms around Carmen's waist and nuzzled on her neck.

"So, will we actually be watching the movie?"

Carmen turned around. "Yep, it took me long enough to get you here. If I had known that all it took was getting you drunk, I would of done it sooner." Carmen laughed.

"Fine, but we are getting a twinseat." Shane said, kissing Carmen again.

The movie had been playing for a while now but Shane couldn't concentrate on it. She found Carmen much more interesting. Shane had her arm around Carmen as they sat in the twinseat. Carmen was watching the movie with a great interest but would occasionally peck Shane's lips.

Shane grinned as she got an idea. She slowly started running her hand up and down Carmen's waist, her fingertips grazing along her shirt until she could touch her bare skin. Carmen didn't seem to mind so Shane just continued what she was doing. She leaned in and started kissing Carmen from her neck to her cheek until she came near her mouth. Carmen moved her hair so she could kiss her fully on the lips. Shane pulled her closer and put her other hand on Carmen's bare knee, slowly moving up. By now, Carmen had forgotten about the movie also and was kissing Shane fervently, no longer interested in what was being played on the screen. They continued to kiss for a while until Shane broke the kiss.

"I need to go to the bathroom." Shane said. "I'll be right back."

Carmen watched her walk away, her breathing still uneven from the kiss. She waited for a moment more before taking their stuff and making her way down where Shane had gone. She waited impatiently for Shane to come out. When she finally did, Carmen pulled at her arm and pulled her in a room near the bathroom.

"Carm, what are y…" Shane was cut off as Carmen pushed her against the door as soon as they entered. Carmen's lip's collided with her own and her hands started roaming over Shane's body. She ran her hands under Shane's shirt. "Carm, wait, wait wait."

"What?" Carmen asked, looking at Shane who looked around the room. "No one will come in here. This is an old room that isn't being used anymore." Carmen locked the door and pulled Shane over to a couch that was in the corner of the room. She pushed Shane onto the couch and straddled her while starting to unbutten Shane's shirt.

"What about the movie?"

"I'll rent it." Carmen said as she kissed Shane again and continued to unbutten her shirt. Shane put her hands under Carmen's shirt and pulled it up. She threw the shirt on the floor and pushed Carmen on the couch. She positioned herself between Carmen's legs and kissed her way down her neck to her chest. Carmen moaned and pulled Shane back up as she started to unbuckle Shane's pants. Shane ran her hands all over Carmen's upper body and started massaging her breast while her other hand ran up Carmen's leg and under her skirt.

They were interrupted by Shane's phone ringing. Shane cursed as she ruffled around in her pocket trying to retrieve her phone, her focus still on Carmen. She tore herself away from Carmen's lips as she looked at her phone. "Alice . . . She'll call back later." Shane said, kissing Carmen again until her phone started ringing again. Shane sighed and picked up the phone. "Alice, I'm kinda busy right now." Shane said and smiled at Carmen who was kissing her chest.

"Shane?"

"Yeah, can you call back later, Al?" Shane said until she heard a muffled cry and halted. "Al? What's wrong?" She asked.

"I broke up with Dana."

_And yes, they hooked up woot woot!_


	16. Chapter 16

_Thank you once again for you nice comments, hoping for more lol._

_This is one loooooong chapter, could have split it up but it didn't really match to do that so enjoy!_

**Chapter 16**

Things got uncomfortable, silence fell as Carmen and Shane made their way back to Carmen's place. Other then silent glances and the radio playing softly nothing could be heard in the car. Both wanted to talk but neither knew what to say. Soon the car slowed down and stopped infront of Carmen's house.

"I'm sorry the night ended like this." Shane finally spoke for the first time in what seemed like hours. She knew she had to say something. She couldn't just go without at least talking to Carmen.

"It's not your fault." Carmen said, looking over at Shane. "Will you be okay to get home?" She asked, a bit concerned that the alcohol would be affecting her.

Shane nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine. That phone call washed it all out of my system." Shane awkwardly laughed.

"You should go, Alice needs you now." Carmen said. "And I should go look for Dana."

Shane nodded again and looked at Carmen who looked back at her. She faintly smiled and got out of the car.

"Shane?" Carmen yelled as she ran up to Shane who turned around.

"Will you come over or call me later?" She asked with hesitation in her voice.

Shane smiled and stepped closer to Carmen. "I would love to." She said as she leaned in and gave Carmen a kiss.

Carmen's face lighted up, clearly happy with Shane's reply. Shane let go of Carmen and walked over to her car. She looked once more to Carmen, who was still smiling, got in her car and drove off.

Carmen looked over to Dana's house and took a deep breath as she started walking over. This wouldn't be easy.

"Alice?" Shane said as she entered the house.

She could hear Alice crying as she walked closer to Alice's bedroom. She opened the door and could see Alice lying in her bed, sobbing into the pillow.

"Hey." Shane said as she sat down on the bed and put her hand on Alice's shoulder to let her know she was there.

Alice's turned around, tears falling freely from her face. "It's over, Shane." Alice said.

"What happened?" Shane asked, feeling bad for her best friend. She hated seeing Alice's like that.

"Things were going good. We were having fun, went out for dinner…" Alice started when they were interupted by Alice's phone ringing. Alice picked it up and looked at the screen and stopped the call. "She's been calling me non-stop." Alice said.

"Maybe you should talk to her, Alice."

Alice shook her head. "No, I'm done talking to her, I mean it." She said as she started crying again. "She said we were "just friends" Shane."

"What?"

"We were at the park. We were sitting down and were enjoying ourselves when a couple came to sit next to us. I was happy that Dana didn't seem to mind." Alice said, blowing her nose as she started crying harder again. "They asked us if we were a couple and do you know what Dana anwsered?" Alice asked Shane, who shook her head. "She said: "Us? No, of course not, we are just friends.""

"Maybe…maybe she just wasn't ready to say that yet? Remember that it even took her some time showing it to me and Carm." She said, trying to devent Dana.

"It was another lesbian couple."

"Oh." Shane grimaced, clearly not expecting Alice to say that.

Alice's phone started ringing again. "Argh, just leave me alone!" She yelled to her phone as she cancelled the phone call.

"I'm sorry this happened Al." Shane said, not really knowing what to say anymore.

Alice nodded. "Me too but you know what, screw her, I don't need her." Alice said as she got off the bed. "Heck, I'm over her already. I'm done crying, I'm done hurting and I'm done talking about her." Alice babbled. Shane got off the bed as well and walked over to Alice. "Why, Shane, why?" Alice said with a cracking voice. Shane pulled her best friend into a hug. "How could she say that?" Alice said, breaking down again.

"It will be okay Alice."

Alice pulled out of the hug as she heard her phone again. This time it wasn't ringing but beeped, indicating that she had received a text message. She picked up her cellphone and read the message. She snorted as she read it. "Now she wants to talk." Alice said.

"Maybe you should let her?" Shane said.

"Why? What could she possibly say to fix this?" Alice said. "Say that she didn't mean it? That I misunderstood? That she wants to be with me but noone can know?" Alice wiped the fresh tears from her face with her hands. "I'm done with her Shane." She said again.

"Alice, I know that you are hurt. You don't have to act like you are okay because I know you are not." Shane said as she saw Alice was trying to put up and act. "I'm here for you okay?"

"I know, thanks Shane." Alice said as she hugged Shane again. "Can we talk about something else?"

"Of course."

"Can we rehearse?"

"If you are up to it?" Shane asked.

"I am, maybe we can finish the song I wrote the other day."

"Al…"

"I need to do this Shane. I need to be in this phase for a while."

"Okay, let's go then." Shane said as they both walked out of the bedroom and into the livingroom.

"Hey, it's me."

"Hi."

"I don't think I'll be able to come over."

"Oh, that's okay." Carmen said. "How's Alice?"

"She's a mess." Shane sighed. "She's heartbroken, I don't think I have ever seen her like this…how's Dana?"

"She won't let me in so I'm guessing she's a mess as well." Carmen replied. "Did Alice tell you what happened?"

"Yeah, a couple asked them if they were together and Dana said they were just friends."

"Oh, but Alice knew that Dana is having a hard time with that."

"It was another lesbian couple."

"Oh, ouch." Carmen replied.

"Ouch would be the right word." Shane said. "I thought the same thing."

"Shane?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you regret what happened tonight?" Carmen asked the question she had wanted to ask Shane in the first place.

"…No…" Shane replied after moment. "I don't regret it."

"Good, neither do I." Carmen replied. "I wish you could come over."

"Me too, Alice is still a mess though, I have to stay with her."

"I know, I wish Dana would let me in." Carmen sighed. "She's never shut me out ever before, I'm starting to worry about her."

"She has been calling Alice non stop and sending her messages." Shane informed Carmen.

"Are they talking?"

"No, Alice doesn't want to speak to her."

"I hope they can work things out."

"I hope so to but I think Alice has made up her mind." Shane said. "Alice is deeply hurt, she's even trying to act as if she isn't affected by this but I know she's in so much pain. I hate to see her like this. She wanted to rehearse with me to get her mind out of things but it's not really working. So we just took a break, but hey I have to go now." Shane said as she saw Alice walking back in.

"Oh okay." Carmen said, dissapointed that Shane had to go. "Will I see you tomorrow?"

"Yes, you will." Shane smiled.

"Cool, I'll see you then."

"Bye."

"Bye Shane, tell Alice I said hi."

"I will, Bye." Shane said as she hung up the phone. "Carmen says hi."

Alice said just gave Shane a small smile. Shane saw that Alice was having a really hard moment again. "You okay?"

"No, not really."

"We don't have to rehearse, you know?"

"It's the only thing to keep my mind off it, if that's even possible at all." Alice sighed. "I'm sorry I ruined your evening with Carmen." Alice said.

"You didn't, me and Carmen were just at the movies, we can do that again any other time." Shane said, she couldn't tell Alice the whole truth cause then she would feel even worse. "I'm glad you called me, Alice." Shane said, putting her arm around Alice's shoulder. "Really." She said again.

Alice smiled. "Me too." She said.

Alice walked out of the kitchen when she heard someone knocking on the front door softly. She looked over to Shane and hesitated before walking over and opening it. "Dana." Alice said. "I should off known." She started as she was about to close the door again.

"Alice, please, let me explain." Dana pleaded. "I wanna talk about this. I don't want to lose you, I love you."

Alice turned around at this point, anger clearly showing on her face. "What!" How dare you even say that to me. You don't love me, Dana."

"I do love you, please just let me explain."

"What could you possibly explain?" Alice said. "I get it Dana, I get it…we are friends, right? Good friends get each other." Alice said, each word coming out with more anger and pain. "So get this, and I'll say it in words you can understand. Our 'friendship' is over." Alice said coldly. "So now leave me alone."

"I'm not going until you let me explain."

"Yeah, good luck with that." Alice said as she slammed the door shut. She fell down on the floor crying uncontrolably. Shane rushed over and put her arms around Alice. Both of them could hear Dana knocking on the door.

"Alice, please let me in." Dana yelled from outside while she kept knocking on the door. "Please baby, just let me in so we can talk about this, please. I'll do anything, just…"

Shane opened the door. "Shane, please let me in so I can talk do Alice." Dana pleaded.

"Alice doesn't want to talk to you, Dana." Shane said.

"But we have to talk about this, we have to fix this. _ I_ have to fix this." Dana said, trying to move past Shane, who blocked her way.

"Dana, please, just leave okay." Shane said with a sad smile. Her heart breaking for both of them at the moment. "If Alice wants to talk you'll know, just please respect her choice."

"You don't understand Shane." Dana cried. "I love her." Dana said as she turned around. "I love her." She said again as she went to sit down on the stairs, putting her head in her lap, crying.

Shane went to sit next to her and put her arm around Dana. "Just give her some time Dana. She's hurt really badly right now, just give her some time and then maybe you'll be able to talk things out."

"You think so?" Dana said, lifting her head, tears running from her face.

"I don't know, I hope so." Shane honestly said. "I've never seen her like this before."

"I messed up, Shane. I messed it all up, again." Dana said as she got up. "Will you at least give her this?" Dana asked, pulling a letter out of her pocket.

"Sure." Shane said, taking the letter from Dana.

"Thanks." She said sadly. She left without saying another word.

Shane sighed and walked back in the house. She saw Alice standing at the window watching Dana walking away. "Dana gave me this." Shane said, handing Alice the letter.

"I don't care what she has to say." Alice said looking at it and threw into the trashcan next to her and while she walked away.

Shane shook her head and picked the letter back out. "Alice, don't be stupid, just read what she has to say, okay?" Shane said, pushing the letter into Alice's hands. She walked out of the living room, leaving Alice's alone to read the letter. At least, she hoped she would read it.

"Hey."

Carmen smiled as she saw who was at the door. "Shane, come on in."

" I can't stay very long, Carm." Shane said. "I was on my way to the store but…I wanted to see you." She said with a smile.

Carmen's smile grew. "I'm glad." She said. "How's Alice holding up." Carmen asked as both of them went to sit down on the couch.

"She's not." Shane said. "She's such a mess. I don't think I've ever seen anyone so heartbroken." Shane sighed. "I feel so bad for her. For both of them."

"I still haven't seen Dana." Carmen said. "She refuses to let me in."

"She came by our house yesterday."

"She did?" Carmen asked. "Did they talk to each other?"

"No, Alice didn't want to talk to her. Dana looked so depressed. She hoped that Alice would let her explain but Alice didn't want to hear it. She gave me a letter for Alice to read but I'm not sure if Alice actually read it." Shane said. "She threw the letter away when I gave it to her but I took it back and asked her to at least read it. I hope she did."

Carmen nodded. "Yeah." She said looking at Shane, who looked back at her. "So…hmm about yesterday….hmm, you still okay about that?" Carmen asked nervously. She hoped that Shane hadn't changed her mind overnight.

Shane smiled and leaned in to kiss Carmen. "What do you think?" She asked as she pulled away.

Carmen smiled back. "I'm not sure, I think you should kiss me again."

Shane leaned in and gave Carmen another kiss. "I don't regret what happened Carm. I kissed you last night because I wanted to kiss you." She smiled. "I'm glad I did."

"Me too." Carmen nodded.

"I'm sorry but I have to go now." Shane said, getting off the couch.

"So soon?"

"Yeah I know, I have to run to the store and then I have to meet Kit, to arrange our gig." Shane explained. "Normally, Alice does these things but she's not upto it." She said as she walked to the front door and opened it.

"Oh okay, I'm glad you stopped by though."

"I promise that, next time, I'll stay longer." Shane smirked.

"I'll hold you to that." Carmen said.

"Please do." Shane replied. "Unless you want to come with me to the store?"

"I would, but I wanna be here in case Dana shows up." Carmen said.

Shane walked closer to Carmen and put her arms around her waist. "Okay, so I'll see you later." She said as she leaned in to kiss Carmen. Carmen put her arms around Shane's neck and kissed her back. "Bye." She said, once more kissing Carmen before letting go and turning around.

"Dana?" Shane said, a bit surprised to see her there. She was standing a few feet from the door. Neither had see her come over, Shane looked over from Dana to Carmen. Shane walked over to Dana. "How are you holding up?" She asked, chosing not to talk about the kiss which she was sure Dana saw. It probably wouldn't make Dana feel better at all anyways.

Dana just shrugged. "Did Alice read my letter?"

"I don't know. She was pretty mad and upset." Shane said.

"Okay." Dana said. "Thanks anyways Shane."

"It was nothing Dana, I'll talk to Alice again, okay?." Shane replied. "I have to go now though, I'm sorry."

"Okay. Thanks again." She said.

Shane put her hand on Dana's shoulder and walked away. She turned around once more to look at Carmen. She smiled and gave her a small wave while mouthing bye to her.

Dana looked from Shane driving away to Carmen, who still stood at her front door. She made her way over and looked at Carmen, who pulled her into a hug.

"So I guess Shane told you what happened." Dana asked.

Carmen nodded. "She did. How are you?" Carmen asked Dana, who pulled out of the hug and was just staring at the floor. Carmen motioned for Dana to come in.

"Just peachy." She said as she walked past Carmen.

"And now the truth?"

"I feel awful." Dana said, plopping down on the couch. "She broke up with me, Carmen." She said while tears sprung in her eyes again.

"I know." Carmen said.

"And it's all my fault." Dana said. "I didn't mean it Carmen, I didn't mean it."

"Didn't mean what?"

"When that couple asked if we were a couple…I didn't mean to say that we were just friends."

"But you said it?"

"Yes…I did. I didn't mean it Carmen, I…it was my first reaction…" Dana said. "I saw Alice's heart break and she just walked away. You know me Carmen, I never admitted this to anyone. I never said I love you to any of them before but Alice, she's different, I really love her." Dana said, pain clearly written on her face as she thought back at what happened. "I even told that couple that we were infact together before I ran after Alice." Dana sobbed. "I broke her heart Carmen and I can't do anything to make this right."

"You will find a way to fix this."

Dana shook her head. "I think I messed it up completely, I said what I said Carmen, I didn't mean it but I can't take it back."

"Just give her some time and then she will listen to what you have to say."

"You think so?"

"Yes." Carmen said with a reasuring smile.

"I hope so." Dana said looking over at Carmen. "So…you and Shane?"

Carmen faintly smiled. "Yeah." She replied.

"When did that happen?"

"Yesterday."

"Oh…I'm happy for you guys." Dana said. "I knew you two would get together."

"Really?"

"Well Alice did…at first I didn't really see it but Al told me a few times and after that it was kinda obvious you liked each other more then friends." Dana sadly said, thinking back at the conversations she had had with Alice and the memories it brought back to her.

Carmen laughed. "Yeah, Alice sure has a nose for these kind of things."

"Yeah…" Dana sadly replied. "I hmm I going to go back home Carmen."

"Okay…Dana?"

Dana looked up. "Yeah?"

"Don't shut me out okay, if you need to talk or just need me to be with you, call me…don't go through all this all by yourself."

Dana nodded. "Thanks Carmen." Dana said as she hugged Carmen before getting up and walking to the door.

"That's what I'm here for." Carmen smiled. "I'll see you soon then yeah?"

"Yes." Dana said as she opened the door. "Talk to you later Carmen."

"Bye, Dane."

Carmen watched as she saw Dana walking away, her head hanging low. She could see the pain Dana was in and felt bad for her. She hoped that Dana would be able to fix the damage and soon.


	17. Chapter 17

Here's the next, less shorter, chapter.

Hope you all like it.

**Chapter 17**

Dana was mindlessly picking her food that had been infront of her for a while now. She had to get out of the house so decided she would come and visit Carmen at The Planet. Since she hadn't eaten yet she thought it would be best to order something. But now she didn't even know why she had bothered. Food didn't taste good anymore so she shoved her plate away, took her drink and moved over to the bar. She sat down and immediately saw the flyer on it. She staired at the picture on it and slowly ran her dumb over it. "_Alice_" she wispered. She read the details and suddenly looked up to find Carmen.

"I want Alice back." Dana said as soon as she saw Carmen who came over to the bar.

"I know, Dana." She said while she was placing an order on a tray.

"I'm gonna get her back Carm, I have to." Dana said determented.

Carmen noticed the look of determenation. She knew her friend. "What's the plan." She asked with a smile which Dana immediately returned widely. Carmen moved from behind the bar and went to sit next to Dana.

"Shane." Dana said, looking behind Carmen.

Carmen looked at her weirdly. "Your plan is Shane?"

"No, Shane is here." Dana said, motioning with her head.

Carmen turned around on her barstool and smiled at Shane who returned the smile when she saw Carmen looking. "Hey, what are you doing here?" She asked as Shane had walked over to them.

Shane shook her head. "Hi Shane, yes, it's nice to see you too." She said sarcastically .

Carmen's smile grew. "Oi, you know I'm happy to see you".

"You'd better be." Shane joked as she gave Carmen a small kiss on the lips and put her arms around her waist. "Hey Dana."

"Hey Shane." Dana replied softly, feeling guilty all of a sudden. She wondered why she never had the guts to do this with Alice. She put her head down and cursed to herself. She was also feeling happy for her friend though. She knew Carmen was happy that things finally looked good for her and Shane.

"How did you know I was going to be here?" Carmen asked Shane.

"Kit told me earlier. She said Sophie called in sick and that she would have to call you. I drove by and well, I was so thirsty all of a sudden" Shane said smiling sweetly.

"Well then, what would you like to have?"

"Hmm, a kiss from you maybe?" Shane said, smiling toothly.

Carmen leaned in slowly. "Customer is king." She said as she gave Shane a kiss.

"Seriously guys, trying not to barf here." Dana said. "There is cute and just way to adorable." She laughed.

"Sorry." Shane said as she broke the kiss but didn't let go of Carmen. "This was the only way to lessen my thirst." She said giving Carmen another quick peck on the lips.

Carmen laughed out loud. "Shane, That really doesn't make sense."

Shane shook her head. "I know…" she said. "…there goes my coolness." She said as she thought about she had just said.

"Beer?" Carmen asked Shane to change the subject.

"Sure."

"Dana?" Carmen asked to see if she wanted another drink. Dana shook her head no but didn't say anything.

"Okay, I'll be right back." Carmen said as she went behind the bar to get the drinks.

Shane watched Carmen before turning to Dana who was stairing at the picture again. Shane noticed it and watched Dana closely. She knew that she was hurt badly by the break-up as well. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm not." Dana replied looking up. "But that's going to change." She said, thinking about her plan again.

"Yeah? Did you guys talk?" She asked, thinking that that was what Dana meant. She thought that Alice finally let Dana talk to her.

Dana sighed. "No…but I'm going to make her listen to me."

"How are you going to do that?" She asked curiously. "I don't think Alice is just going to sit down and listen, Dane."

"Dana has a plan." Carmen said, handing Shane her drink with a sweet smile. Carmen sat back down on her stool and turned back to Dana while Shane stood behind her and put her arms around her waist again after taking a sip of her beer. "So, Dana, What's the plan?" Carmen said as she leaned into Shane.

Dana sat up more on her chair. "It's good that you are here Shane. You can help me with my plan."

"Gladly, but I'm not sure if there is anything I can do?"

"Leave it to me." Dana replied. "You can add more then two microphones on your soundsystem right?"

"Yeah, we can add up to seven on ours." Shane said, confused what that had to do with the plan. "Why?"

Dana didn't awnser and just focused on her plan. "Could you bring an extra one for me on Friday?" She asked.

"Sure, if you tell me what you are planning to do." Shane said laughing, curiousity taking the best off her.

Dana started explaining her plan to both Shane and Carmen. What she didn't know is that Alice was already forming another idea on her own. One that would change everything.

"Okay, thanks Tina. Say hi to the others from me." She said as she hung up the phone and walked out of her bedroom. She heard the frontdoor open and saw Shane come in. "Hey Shane, how did it go?"

"It's all set, Friday at nine." She said, putting her groceries down on the table. She swore Dana that she wouldn't tell Alice anything about the plan. She just hoped that Dana could pull it off without Alice finding out. Things could get ulgy otherwise and she didn't want that to happen. She looked up at Alice and saw a look of worry on her face, she wasn't sure what to make of it. "You okay?" she asked.

Alice sighed. "Dana keeps calling me Shane. And she keeps sending me messages…I wish she would just stop it. It's hurting me and I just want to forget about her." She said sadly.

Shane felt bad again. Was it a bad idea to agree with the plan? Would she do good to help out with it or would it hurt Alice even more? 'Cause she knew her best friend. Once she had made up her mind about something, there wasn't much that could change it. But this was Dana, and Shane knew that Alice really had strong feelings for her. So, it would be worth a try, right? To try and help in making two of her friends happy again? "Maybe you should just listen to what she has to say, talk things out?" She suggested.

"NO! I'm done talking, Shane." Alice said angry and annoyed. "I just want to forget about her and move on!"

"Hey, you don't have to get angry." Shane said calmly. "I just want to help."

Alice sighed. "I know, I know…It just sucks so much Shane, why can't I just forget about her? Why do I sometimes feel like I'll never get over this?"

"I don't know, Alice." Shane said honestly. "I've never expierenced this before."

"Be happy about that, 'cause it sucks." Alice replied sadly.

"I hate seeing you like this, Al." Shane said, sitting down next to Alice. "I want my crazy, pain in the ass friend back." Shane joked, putting her arm around Alice's shoulder to pull her closer.

Alice laughed. "You will…I spoke to Tina earlier."

"Really?" Shane asked. "How are they?"

"They's doing really well. Bette and her are thinking about getting a baby." Alice said with a smile.

Shane smiled as well. "That's great! They'll be wonderful parents." Shane said.

"I know, especially since they've been together for so long now." Alice said.

"Yeah, it's been what? 15 years?"

"Something like that, yes." Alice said. "Man, we were still so young then." Alice said, laughing.

"Shane laughed as well. "I know! I remember us going over there all the time and eat all their food."

"Or have parties while they were gone. Giving me a key wasn't their brightest idea." Alice laughed even more.

"Yeah! I don't know why they trusted you with a key while they were on vacation! They knew you would get them into trouble."

"You should talk! I suppose you wouldn't have gotten us into trouble then?"

"Of course not, they wouldn't off found out about it cause we already paid the ticket the police gave us." Shane said, getting up to put her bags away. "But you couldn't keep your mouth shut." She said, walking into the kitchen.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Alice said.

"Hey, how's Helena doing?" Shane yelled from the kitchen. "Al?" she asked when she didn't hear an anwser.

"I wanna move back home." Alice said.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18?**

"What?" Shane asked when she came back out of the kitchen.

Alice looked up to Shane. "I called Tina to ask about the house. She said it's still ours if we want it."

Shane stood there, not knowing what to say. "You really want to move back home?"

"Yeah, if I stay here I will keep feeling miserable."

"You think running away is going to make you forget about Dana?"

"No, but at least I won't have to run into her anymore."

"What about us?" Shane asked. "I mean, the band was doing so well here."

Alice sighed. "I was kinda hoping that you would move back home with me?"

How could Shane react to this? With things going so well with Carmen. But how could she let her best friend down? Someone who's always been there for her, even when everyone else was giving up on her.

"I don't know, Alice. Will you please re-think this first?" Shane asked.

"I don't need to think about this, Shane."

Shane expected this. "You already made up your mind about this, huh?"

"Yeah, I want to go back home and I really hope you will come with me." Alice said. She knew she was being selfish to ask but she didn't want to lose her best friend as well. "Please?"

Shane stayed quiet for a few moments and sighed before answering. "I need to think about this, Al. And so should you."

"What's there to think about? We…oh my god, Carmen!" Alice said as if a light bulb went of in her head. "Did something happen between you guys?" Alice asked. She finally realised why Shane wanted to think about her offer more then when she usually asked to move.

"No!...yes." She said, no point in not telling Alice about what happened.

"Really?" Alice asked. She knew she should be happy for Shane but her selfishness and fear of losing her friend where still in control.

"Yeah, we kissed the night we went to the movies." Shane said, chosing not to tell Alice everything. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Al. But you were already feeling so down. It didn't seem right to tell ya."

"So, I _did_ mess up your date with her by calling you?"

"You didn't, Alice." Shane replied quickly. "You know you can always call me, I'm always here for you, whenever, whereever."

"But not when you are finally getting together with the girl you've wanted since we got here!" Alice said, feeling even worse now.

"Alice, will you stop worrying!" Shane said with a stern voice. "There is nothing to feel bad about."

Alice gave her a look.

"About you calling me, I mean." Shane said.

"So, I guess you'll stay here then, huh?" Alice said, feeling bad that she not only lost her love here but now also would lose her best friend.

Shane saw the look on Alice's face. A look she had never seen before. A look of her heart breaking, she looked even worse then when Dana and her broke up. How could she be responsible for causing her best friend even more sadness?

"I'll come with you, Alice." Shane said.

"You can't!" Alice said quickly. "Not when you are being with Carmen. I don't want to split you guys up."

Shane sighed again. "Alice, Carmen and I where just starting out… you have been my best friend all my life. I'll move back home with you." She said, putting up a fake smile.

Alice squealed. "Thank you, Shane!" Alice said, thowing her arms around Shane. "I'm so happy. This is going to be great, us moving back home."

Shane's smile dissapeared when Alice no longer could see her face. What did she just do? She said yes to Alice because she didn't want to hurt her more. But could she hurt Carmen? How was she going to tell her this? How would she live with the look that Carmen will have when she tells her she's leaving? She made her best friend happy but was feeling misareble herself now.

Shane spend the rest of the day trying to come up with a way to tell Carmen she would be leaving. She was feeling miserable. How could she tell her when she knew things would get bad and ugly between them? Carmen had called her earlier but she ignored the call, knowing her voice would give her away.

Shane woke up early the next day. Sleep never really came to her the night before and she was having a killer headache on top of it. She groaned at crawled out of bed.

She held her head for a moment and sighed deeply before sitting back down on her bed. She spend all night trying to come up with ways how to tell Carmen.

She had played different scenario's over and over in her head. Each one worse then the other. She thought back about it. "_Carmen, I'm leaving with Alice.", "Carmen, I'm leaving forever, bye.", "Carmen, this ain't easy but I'm leaving." _Shane thought about it and shook her head. This was never going to be easy. All the things she thought about made her seem like a complete jerk and like she had no feelings.

She picked up her phone and saw that she had a voice message.

"_Hey baby, it's me. I called earlier as well but you didn't anwser. I'm wondering if you want to come over tonight? Call me back__, okay? Bye."_

Shane sighed as she heard Carmen's voice. She knew that call was from last night. Carmen had called her a few more times after that but she never answered. She felt really bad for the way she was acting.

She stood up and walked into the bathroom. She stripped down her clothes and turned on the shower. She put up the heat and stepped inside. She never really liked taking a hot shower but now she didn't care. She wanted to feel something else then the pain she felt for what she was doing to Carmen. After spending what seemed like forever in the shower she turned it off and stepped out. She dried herself off and put on her robe when she heard her phone ringing.

She quickly ran in her room and picked up her phone. Carmen's name was flashing on the phone. Shane hesitated but put her phone back down and walked over to her closet. The ringing ending soon after she put her phone back down.

Shane turned and looked at her phone that now had stopped ringing. She sighed again before turning back and picking out her clothes to wear. She was just putting on her shoes when she heard her phone again. But this time it wasn't a call but a beep indicating she had a message.

She picked up her phone again and read the message.

"_Hey baby, I'm starting to get worried, could you please call me back. xxx Carm."_

Shane pressed the answer button and just stared at her screen. After looking at it for a while and not getting further then typing a simple hey, she cancelled the message, tossed her phone back on the bed and walked out of her room.

Shane looked around for a moment, checking out the whole place carefully. She hesitated and entered when she didn't see her. "Hey Shane." Dana said, calling out to Shane when she saw her enter The Planet. Shane looked at her and slowly walked over. "We still on for Friday?"

Shane looked around again, pleased that Carmen wasn't there. She set down the equipment she was carrying before turning to Dana. "Hey Dana." Shane replied, looking at her friend. "Yeah sure, I'll set up everything for ya." She looked at Dana and saw the hope in her eyes. Hope that her plan would work and that Alice would give her another chance.

Why did it seem like whatever Shane would do, it would all end bad? Whatever she decided, things would get ugly, people she cared about would get hurt and it seemed like she was so caught up in between the middle of it all, that in the end, she would get hurt the most.

"Are you okay?" Dana asked, looking at Shane.

"I'm not feeling so well today." Shane said. "I didn't sleep at all last night."

"How come?"

"I don't know, I think I ate something wrong." Shane lied. "I was tossing and turning all night."

"Oh." Dana replied. "Erm…how's Alice?"

Shane just stared at Dana. What could she say to Dana? That Alice would probably be packing her bags already, eager to get away as quickly as she can?

"Erm…she's trying to deal with everything." Shane anwsered.

"I hope she will give me another chance." Dana replied sadly. Shane could tell that Dana was missing Alice a lot.

"Me too." Shane replied. Could there be a chance that Alice would listen to what Dana had to say? That Dana could convice Alice to give her another chance so Shane didn't have to tell Carmen that Alice and her would be leaving soon.

"I have to go now though. I just came to get a quick drink." Dana said. "I"ll call you later to go over the plan again, okay?" Dana asked.

"Sure." Shane replied. "I'm going to set up things for our gig now." Shane said, picking up her stuff again.

"Okay. Bye Shane." Dana said. "Thanks again."

"No problem, Dane."

Shane watched Dana walk away. But wasn't prepared for what she saw next. Shane froze where she was standing. What was Carmen doing here? She didn't have to work today.

"Hey Carmen, sorry but I have to go. I'll call you later, okay?" Dana said as she gave Carmen a quick hug before walking past Carmen her to the exit.

"Okay, bye Dana." Carmen replied watching Dana walk out before turning to Shane.

Shane saw Carmen walk over to where she was standing.

"Hey you." Carmen said when she stood before Shane now.

Shane looked at the equipment in her hands and put up a fake smile when she saw Carmen. She hated doing it but did anyways. Why couldn't things go right for a change?

"Hey." Shane said. "What are you doing here? I didn't know you had to work today?"

Carmen frowned. "You not happy to see me?"

"Of course I'm happy to see you." Shane answered showing no emotion in her voice.

Carmen looked strangely at Shane. "I tried to call you yesterday but you didn't anwser." Carmen said, coming over to Shane.

"I know, sorry, I've just been really busy." Shane lied. She took a step back as Carmen came closer to her.

"What's wrong?" Carmen said when Shane pulled away.

"Why would something be wrong?" Shane said, smiling at Carmen but still kept her distance.

"I don't know." Carmen said, frowning at Shane's weird behaviour. "I missed you." She said.

Shane didn't even look up as she kept fixing her equipment. "Me too." She said without emotion. _"Okay, Mccutchion, the cold approach could work."_

"You want to come over and sit for a while?" Carmen asked. "I don't have to start for another ten minutes."

"Maybe later." Shane said putting the cables in her installation.

Carmen started to get a bit mad at the way Shane was acting. "Okay, are you pms-ing or something?" Carmen asked annoyed. She looked at Shane who just ignored her. "SHANE!" She yelled.

"I'm sorry, Carmen. I'm just really busy. I have to set all off the stuff up by myself. Alice didn't want to come with me." Shane said. "And the gig is in two days, I want everything to be set up already."

"No reason to act like a bitch to me." Carmen said, angry with the way Shane was acting. She put her hand on her hip and stood there watching Shane as she was still ignoring her and acted nonchalant. "Shane?"Carmen waited a moment more before she stormed off.

Shane finally looked up and watched Carmen storm away. She sighed. "Well, that went well." She muttered to herself. "_Way to go, jerk_."


	19. Chapter 19

So I know a lot of people are reading this story, I can tell by the story alerts and the story traffic but I almost get no reviews which kind off bums me out a little bit. It would be nice to hear all your thoughts on this **BUT** thank you so much to the people who do review!

So, onto the next chapter!

**Chapter 19**

"Hey, what's up?" Dana said as she opened the door.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Yeah sure, come on in." She said, closing the door. "Are you okay?"

Carmen didn't anwser and just walked in the living room. "Did you talk to Shane at The Planet yesterday?" Carmen asked sitting down on the couch.

"Yeah, why?"

"Did she act weird to you?"

"No, not really." Dana said, wondering why Carmen asked that question. "Why do you ask?"

"She was acting really weird, she kinda ignored me." Carmen said. "I don't know what's wrong."

"Oh, hmm Shane did say that she didn't feel well." Dana replied. "Maybe that's why she didn't say much?"

"Maybe…but she was acting like a bitch to me though." Carmen said, thinking back at it. "And I called her a few times last night and she never anwsered me." She said. "And when I asked her about it she said she was just really busy."

"Well maybe she was?" Dana said.

Carmen shook her head. "No, she always calls me back or at least send me a message." Carmen replied. "I don't know what I did wrong." She said putting her head down. Shane's weird behaviour really got to her. "She hardly said a word to me and left quickly making some lame excuse."

"Have you tried calling her again?"

"Yes, but she doesn't anwser."

"It's probably nothing, Carm." Dana said. "Maybe Shane just get's really cranky when she's not feeling well."

"I hope so." Carmen said, hoping Shane would call her back today and explain what was wrong. "Argh, women!" Carmen yelled, feeling frustrated about the whole thing.

Carmen laughed. "Tell me about it." Dana replied, also laughing now. "So much drama." She said. "But I brought my problems on myself." She said, the laughter quickly dying when she thought about Alice again.

"Still no word from Alice, huh?" Carmen asked.

Dana shook her head. "Nope, she doesn't reply to my calls or texts. I wish she would just let me explain." She said. "I hope my plan works and Alice will listen to me on Friday."

"Do you have everything ready yet?"

"Not yet, I'm still thinking about changing a few things I'm going to say to her."

"I hope it works, Dane."

"Me too…" Dana sighed. "Me too."

**Sad. **

That was all Shane was feeling these lasts days.

**Hurt. **

Because she knew people would get hurt and maybe in the end she would be the one hurting the most.

**Carmen. **

There she was, standing at the window of The Planet. Carmen was inside. The previous week, Shane would have run in just to spend as much time as she could with Carmen. Now, she was hiding from her. Ignoring Carmen was so hard for Shane. She missed Carmen badly and felt even worse about what she was doing. Carmen didn't deserve any off this. She hadn't done anything wrong. Shane knew she would have to tell Carmen the truth. How? She didn't know.

"You have to pull."

Shane wipped her head around. "Dana."

"You have to pull the door to get in." Dana said again.

"Oh…I was…I" Shane stuttered.

"What's wrong, Shane?"

"Nothing." She quickly answered.

"Yeah, right." Dana said, looking at Shane. Who was staring inside again. Dana followed her gaze which landed on Carmen. Carmen looked up and Shane quickly ducked back behind the wall. "Sure, nothings wrong and you are standing here playing hide and seek with yourself?" She asked. "Well, if nothings wrong, are you going to come in?"

"I can't."

"Sure, you can." Dana said, taking Shane's arm to pull her inside.

"No, no no." Shane said, pulling back.

"Okay, Shane." Dana said. "I know something is wrong and you don't have to tell me what it is." Dana started. "But I do know that whatever it is, you are starting to hurt Carmen." Dana said, pointing inside towards Carmen.

Shane looked up when she heard this. "Did she say that?"

"How would you feel if she started ignoring you all of a sudden without a reason?" Dana asked. "It's been three days, Shane." She said. "I thought everything was finally going alright for you two?"

"It was."

"Was?" Dana said,.

"Dammit Dana. It's not that easy, okay." Shane said, losing her temper. Dana was starting to get to close to knowing the truth if she kept pushing Shane.

"What isn't?"

Shane started to feel uncomfortable. "I…I have to go." She said. "I'm sorry, Dana." Shane said, starting to walk away. "I'll call you later to discuss everything for tomorrow." She quickly added. _Our last chance to make it all right."_ She thought. Just as she thought she had escaped it all the side door of The Planet opened. "Carmen." She said, almost running into her.

"Leaving so soon?" She asked bitterly.

"_Oh yeah, she's pissed_." Shane thought. "I…I…"

"I just thought that after standing there for the last half hour you would at least come inside to say hi to me." Carmen said, the bitter in her voice changing into sadness.

"You saw me?"

"Shane, you were standing at the entrance. I would have to be blind not to have seen you." Carmen said. "Next time when you don't want to be seen, try standing in the bushes, or in your car…like you did yesterday."

"You saw that as well?"

Carmen was sick of playing games. "Want to tell me what the hell I did wrong to deserve this?" She snapped.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Carm." Shane said softly.

"No? Sure doesn't feel like it." She said. "Damn Shane, I'm sick of this." She yelled. "For the last two days I've wondered what on earth I could have done wrong. Why you started ignoring me." Carmen said getting teary. "You don't call back, I never see you anymore. You don't explain what's wrong. So yesterday I gave up. I give up, Shane." Carmen said. "Please, tell me what I did wrong."

"You didn't do anything, Carmen." Shane said. She was lost, everything she felt, every pain, every guilt, suddenly started to hurt even more. "I'm sorry." Shane said, taking Carmen's hand. "I'm sorry." She replied. "This just ain't gonna work."

"What?" Carmen said, pulling her hand back, tears quickly forming in her eyes again when she heard this. "Why?"

"Please, Carmen." Shane said with tears in her eyes as well. "It's for the best."

"Don't tell me what's best. I want you to explain what the hell happened."

"I can't." Shane said. "You'll understand real soon." And with that Shane walked away. Quickly trying to get away from it all. She heard Carmen call after her but ignored it.


	20. Chapter 20

_YAY reviews make me very happy! I'm glad I had more on the previous chapter, I'm__ getting to know my readers which is nice. Let's keep it up shall we? Hehe. Thanks everyone who took the time to review! And the ones that didn't, well, thank you for reading and I hope to see a review somewhere along the road._

_Onto the next one!_

**Chapter 2****0**

"How did Carmen take the news?" Alice asked. She had driven back home to arrange everything for the move. She hadn't talked to Shane in two days and called her to tell her the details.

"Not well." Shane snorted. "I don't think she'll be at the gig."

Alice paused for a moment. She noticed Shane's voice sounded tired and sad. "She's not going to say goodbye to us?"

"…" Shane didn't reply. Alice started to understand that maybe she was asking a bit to much off her best friend. "Shane?"

Shane snapped out off it and sighed. "Al, I handled everything wrong, okay." Shane said. "Things ended badly and I'm pretty sure she hates me now."

"Oh…What about…"

"Al, can we just not talk about this!" Shane snapped.

"Okay." Alice said. "I'm sorry."

Shane let out a long breath. "No, I'm sorry, Al. I shouldn't of snapped at you." She said.

"It's okay." Alice answered. "Shane?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure you are okay with moving back home?" Alice asked. "I mean, afterall, Carmen and you just started out so I would understand if…"

Shane interrupted her. "I'm fine with it, Alice." Shane replied softly. "I'm okay with moving back home." She said. "Have you talked to everyone there?" She wanted to change the subject as quick as possible.

"Everyone except Helena, there all happy we are coming home." Alice said. "And I think they are going to throw us a big party." She added. "You know how Helena is, I spoke to her on the phone, she wants it all to be a surprise but everything is so obvious with her, she can't hide a thing." She laughed.

Shane smiled as she thought about their friend. "Yeah, so when will you be home?"

"Hmm, I think in about two hours." Alice said. "Will you be at The Planet already?"

"I think so yeah, so I'll meet you there then, okay?"

"Sure. Bye, Shane."

"Bye."

"Alice?"

"Hey Carmen." Alice said uncomfortable. "Can I come in, please?" She said, looking next door to make sure Dana wasn't to be seen.

"Sure." Carmen said, letting Alice come inside. "Dana isn't home." She added.

"She's not going to the gig is she?" Alice asked.

"Oh…hmm…I don't know." Carmen lied. "She had to do something tonight., I don't know what."

"She better not be there." Alice said, noticing the dark circles under Carmen's eyes. "Carmen, I came to say I'm sorry."

"What?" Carmen asked, confused now. "Why?"

"I know that you and Shane had finally gotten together so I know it must be hard to deal with it all."

"Alice, what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Shane and I leaving…I…" Alice said, noticing Carmen's face change. "She did tell you, did she?"

Carmen stood there, not knowing what to say and feeling totally confused. She blinked before sitting down slowly.

Alice was speechless for a moment but knew by the look on Carmen's face that Shane hadn't told her. "Dammit Shane…" She said to herself. "God Carmen, I thought you knew." She said. "I'm so sorry. I thought Shane would've told you by now."

"No, she just started ignoring me these last few days and then told me it wasn't going to work out between us." Carmen said, staring into space. "She said it all would get clear soon…well, it's christal clear to me now." She snorted.

"I'm so sorry, Carmen." Alice said. "This is all my fault."

"How is it your fault?"

"I asked her to come home with me." Alice said, sitting down next to Carmen. "I kinda forced her into it actually. I never really gave her time to think about it. It was my idea to leave and she kinda got stuck in the middle of it all."

"Well, she doesn't seem to care much for me, if she can break up with me like that."

Alice shook her head. "Carmen, you don't understand. I know Shane, and I know that she cares for you, a lot." Alice said. "Shane just doesn't know how to handle things like this, she isn't very expressive and good with words when it comes to this…and I knew that…I was selfish and not once thought about she actually wanted." Alice said, shaking her head again when she thought about her own behaviour. "She said she was okay with it all but I knew deep down that she didn't want to leave…Carmen, Shane didn't want to break up with you…"

"Well, she did anyways."

"Carmen, you have to go talk to her."

"Why should I ?" Carmen asked. "To feel even worse then I'm already feeling?"

"Carmen, please just come with me…I'm sorry about all of this…I just want to make things right." Alice pleaded, knowing she had to fix things, and quick. "Please?"

"Fine, I'll come with you."

"Alice, I want to talk to her first, if you don't mind."

"Carmen, it's my fault that you guys broke up, at least let me fix it."

Carmen shook her head. " I need to know how she feels, how she _really_ feels." Carmen said. "I want her to tell me that she wants to be with me and not have you come in and fix it for her."

"But…"

"No, Alice. You may have asked her to come with you but she agreed and she broke up with me. I need to know if she really cares for me."

"I know she does."

Carmen nodded. "I hope you're right. But I need to hear it from her."

"Okay." Alice sighed. Not really happy with the way things turned out.

Carmen nodded again and they made there way to The Planet which was already packed with people who came to see them perform tonight. _Dammit, Dana will be back there._ She panicked. Alice couldn't go back there or Dana's plan would be ruined. Right when Alice went to open the door that led to the back area, Carmen put her hand on Alice's arm and spun her around, with more force then intented.

"Carmen? What's wrong?" Alice asked, rubbing her arm.

"Wrong? Nothing's wrong." Carmen started while jumping in front of the door. _Anwser fast, Morales._ Carmen thought, looking around. "I'm just wondering…would you like to dance?"

"What?" Alice asked. "I can't dance now, I have to go on stage in like an hour!"

_Anwser better, dammit_. Carmen thought trying to come up with something else to say. " I meant to say, would you like something to drink?" She said with a nervous laugh.

"No, I'm okay. Are…are you going to let me go in now?" Alice asked. "I swear I won't say anything to Shane until you've talked to her first." Alice said, taking a step forward to get in but was blocked by Carmen.

Carmen made no move to go away. "I would really like something to drink first. Want to come with me?"

"Okay, what's wrong? Why can't I go in there?"

"Why do you think that I don't want you to get in there?" Carmen said. "DON'T BE SILLY ALICE, OF COURSE YOU CAN GO IN THE BACK ROOM." Carmen suddenly yelled.

Alice frowned. "Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

"Yep." Carmen nodded.

"Okay then." Alice said. "I'm going to… go in now…okay?" Alice hesitated.

"OKAY ALICE, LET'S GO INSIDE NOW." Carmen yelled again, practically pressed against the back door. She moved away as slowly as she could and let Alice open the door.

"Shit, I'm deaf." Alice muttered to herself when she opened the door and went inside, Carmen hot on her heals.

"Thank God." Carmen said as she quickly looked around. "No ones here." Which made Alice look at her strangly again. "I mean, Shane's not here, I wasn't ready anyways…"

"Okay, so when you want to come on stage, you have to press this … Alice?" Shane said, when she came around the corner, Dana by her side.

Alice blinked a few times before looking from Dana to Carmen and from Carmen to Shane. "Well, I guess I know why I couldn't come in." Alice said bitterly, looking at Carmen again. "What are you doing here?" She asked Dana. She didn't wait for her anwser. "What is she doing here, Shane?" Alice asked Shane. "And, why would she have to use a microphone?" She asked in a bitter, slow voice.

"Alice, I wanted…"

"I asked Shane, not you." She said, interrupting Dana from explaining.

The tension in the room got so thick you could cut it with a knife. Everyone was staring at everyone and neither actually knew what to say anymore. Shane got really uncomfortable. She felt like she was caught by her best friend helping the enemy and couldn't stand the look on Carmen's face. It was still the same broken look she remembered from last time she saw her, only now there was sadness in her face because the plan her best friend had was now ruined as well.

"Shane?" Alice asked again.

Shane looked from Alice to Dana, quietly asking if she could tell Alice. Dana discreetly nodded at her which made Shane look back to her best friend. "Well, Dana wanted to fix things by…"

Alice already didn't want to hear any more of this. "You know what, I don't even want to know. Things can't be fixed anymore." Alice said. "Not between me and her anyways." Alice's voice sounded angry but so fragile at the same time. She knew that if Dana would be in the same room as her any longer, she would burst into tears. "Could you ask her to leave?" Alice asked Shane, looking down.

"Alice, please, can we at least…"

"No." Alice said, her last resolve breaking. Tears slowly ran from her face. "Just leave, okay."

"I'm not giving up, Alice." Dana said, taking a step forward. "I want to make things right, I _will_ make things right." Dana said, stepping as close as Alice would let her. "I'm going to go on trying until you finally listen to me."

"Well, too bad. Cause after tonight, we…I won't be here anymore." Alice said, finally looking back up. "I'm moving back home." She said, silently happy that she found something to make Dana feel bad.

Dana halted. "What…y…you're leaving?" she asked, her voice already breaking.

"Yes." Alice started. "Didn't you know?" She asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Dana didn't anwser anymore. The way Alice talked to her, with such a cold voice, it hurt her. She knew she had deserved it but it still hurt. She finally turned around to face Shane again. "Shane, did you know about this?"

Shane looked down in shame. What seemed to have been a good idea just a few minutes ago had now turned into a big disaster. Shane nodded.

"I see." Dana then looked over to were Carmen was standing. "Did you know?"

Carmen quickly shook her head. "Dana, I swear I didn't know." She started. "I just found out myself." Carmen looked directly at Shane. "I'm just as shocked as you are."

"I'm sorry." Shane said, finally looking at Carmen. "I hoped that Dana would have been able to…"Shane's voice trailed. "Dana, I just wanted to…" Shane wanted to apologize to both of them but no words seem to be the right ones to fix this.

"It's alright, Shane." Dana said, thinking for a moment. "Thank you for wanting to help me…"

"Are you still here?" Alice said. "I don't know what you had planned and I also don't want to know because I simply don't care." She said, her voice still cold. "All I want is for you leave…now!"

"Alice, Dana just wanted to…" Carmen started, finding her voice back. She had listened to all of it in silence but thought it was time to defend her best friend now.

Dana interrupted her. "It's okay, Carmen…I'll leave." She replied. "I'm not giving up, Alice." Dana took a step closer to Alice, which Alice allowed her to do. "You hear me?" I'm not giving us up."

"I want you to leave." Alice replied softly, looking back at Dana.

Dana nodded slowly. She went to pick up her stuff before quickly getting out of the room. Carmen watched her friend pass by her, tears already falling from her eyes. She looked at both Shane and Alice before running after her best friend.

Alice and Shane where standing in the now quiet room, the tension in it still strong. Could anything go even worse this evening? Nothing seemed right anymore.

"Al?"

"Can we just not talk about this, please?" Alice asked, no longer able to control her feelings.

Shane nodded. "Okay."

Alice stayed silent for a moment. "Why didn't you tell Camen that we were leaving?"

"I didn't know how." Shane said. "I didn't want to hurt her which didn't go well."

"Shane, you have to tell her how you really feel. Tell her you didn't mean it…"

"Why?" Shane asked, confused by Alice's comments.

" 'Cause it's the truth. Don't let her slip away, Shane." Alice said. "She cares about you and she's not afraid to say it or show it." She said, not able to hold back the tears.

"It's to late, Al. I handled it all wrong."

Alice shook her head. "No, it isn't. You are going to talk to her and fix this…Shane…I don't want you to move back home with me."

"What?"

"Shane, I'm sorry I made you choose in the first place." Alice said. " I know you. Sometimes probably even better then you know yourself." She laughed. "You care about her…so…I'm going to move home alone." Tears now in both, Alice and Shane's eyes. "I'm sorry I was so selfish.

"I'm going to miss you so much, Alice." She said, hugging Alice.

"Me too." She said. "I'll be okay. I'll have the others to go and bother." Alice said, both laughing at her comment.

"What about the band?"

"We'll just take a break from it. And, maybe, in a couple of months we can figure something out?"

Shane nodded. "We should get ready."

"I know, I'll go get my guitar."


	21. Chapter 21

_Sorry for the longer wait but I've been super busy._

_Hope you all enjoy this chapter._

**Chapter 21**

Alice and Shane walked on stage to fix everything to start the gig. People started to applaud the minute they walked on stage which made them smile. It was, for now, their final gig, so they wanted to go out with a bang. But after all that had happened their moods had been set back, and both of them sort of wanted to get it over with. However, they didn't want to disappoint their fans.

"Hello everyone!" Alice started. The crowd cheered and clapped when they heard Alice start the gig. "How are you this evening?" She said, earning more applauds from the audience. "Good good, I'm glad to see everyone here but I think you can do a little better than that." She said. "So, how are you doing this evening?" She shouted into the microphone, which made the mass burst out in cheers again. "That's better."

"Hi you guys, before we start this party Alice and I have decided that we need a little break." Shane started. "So, for now, this will be our last performance..." She said, earning a lot of "oh no's" and "awws" from the audience. "We want to thank everyone who came to see us perform, so thank you. Okay, that being said…how about we start this party?" Shane said, starting to play her piano.

Alice and Shane had taken a break in between songs. As this was there last gig they wanted to play a few more songs then they did at other gigs. They had asked Kit if it was okay and she immediately agreed to it. They were making there way back on stage. Alice looked around and saw that even more people had showed up. What she didn't like was, that while looking around she also spotted Dana in the crowd, looking at her intently. Alice quickly looked away and made her way over to Shane.

"I want to play "Tommorow"."

Shane looked up sharply at Alice. "No way."

"Why not, it's a good song!"

"I'm not saying it isn't but you want to play it just to hurt Dana!"

"So? Why should I be the only one to be hurt here?" Alice asked.

"You really think Dana isn't hurt?" Shane asked, shaking her head at her best friend. "This isn't you, Alice. This isn't my best friend." She said, slightly dissapointed by her friends behaviour. "You didn't talk to her, you haven't sat by her while she cried. If you would let her explain you'd know how sorry and hurt she is!"

"Are you on her side now?" Alice asked, getting mad.

"This isn't about choosing sides, Alice." Shane explained. "I just think that you should let her explain but you are to stuborn to let her."

"WHAT?" Alice asked, hurt by Shane's last comment. "You think I like feeling like this? That I like the way things went? She hurt _me_, Shane. Not the other way around, okay!" Alice said, looking at the crowd again to see that some people had noticed they were getting into a fight. "Are you going to play the song with me or do I have to do it all by myself?"

"Fine, but I don't agree with this!"

"Fine." Alice said as she went back to her position on stage. "Okay, you guys ready for more?" She asked into her microphone to show the people that they were going to start again. "Cool, the next song we're going to play is called Tomorrow. It's one of our new songs and we hope you like it. This ones for all the people that have been hurt by someone they really cared for, a song about pain and one about finally moving on from it. It's a sad one but we hope you all like it." Alice said, softly humming into the microphone before beginning to sing.

_If you would only treat me right _

_I'd stay here by your side _

_But I am down to my last cry _

_So I'm leaving you, goodbye _

_You turned away from opportunities _

_To sit and talk things through _

_But now when I say I'm leaving you _

_You have so much to prove_.

She looked over to see where Dana was sitting and saw that she didn't look at them anymore, Carmen was now sitting next to her and had her arm around Dana, talking to her.

_So long to all my pain _

_Good night to my heartache _

_Goodbye sorrow _

_I won't cry no more _

_I'm leaving tomorrow. _

_Stop writing me sweet letters and _

_Calling me on the phone _

_We argued constantely when I saw you _

_Always left me in the cold _

_I made the choice to finally go _

_Cause I can't stand this pain _

_It's time for my last tear to fall _

_And, me to smile again_.

Shane sighed and shook her head softly while playing the piano. She had also noticed that Dana and Carmen were still there and felt bad about what Alice was doing.

_So long to all my pain _

_Good night to my heartache _

_Goodbye sorrow _

_I won't cry no more _

_I'm leaving tomorrow_.

Normally, Shane would have to start to sing with Alice at this part but she decided not to and only continued to play the piano.

_Sorrow and heartache goodbye _

_I'm leaving you _

_Don't wanna meet again _

_Has got to be the end _

_The end_.

Alice glanced over to Shane when she noticed she didn't sing with her before looking into the crowd, she saw that Dana and Carmen where no longer there.

_The sun will finally shine on me_

_And clouds will drift away _

_There's something that's in store for me _

_That's my brighter day _

_So long to all my pain _

_Good night to my heartache _

_Now I just can't wait _

_Tomorrow's too late _

_I'm leaving you today_.

"I was wrong."

Alice had walked into the back room again, not bothering to turn on the light. They had just finished there gig and were going to put there stuff away. She quickly turned around when she heard someone, she switched on the lights when she saw Dana, looking miserable.

Alice's heart hurt when she saw Dana like that but she didn't show it to her. "I thought you left." She simply said, but she didn't look away now.

"I was wrong." Dana said again. "I said I wasn't going to give up…but I am." She said, taking a few steps closer to Alice. "I know that song was meant for me and I…I'll never be able to say how s…sorry I really am but what you sung earlier…I know you hate me…god, you can't even stand me anymore, can you? I did love you, I did care for you…but you are right, I didn't treat you right because I was too scared to admit and show you what I felt…and now it's too late." Dana said, tears running from her face. "Here." She said, handing Alice a few papers.

"What's this?" Alice asked.

Dana sighed. "I won't bother you any longer, Alice." Dana said. "I just want you to have these." She said, pushing the papers in Alice's hands. "It's what I prepared to do earlier, before you and Carmen came in…It's what's in my heart, what's always been in there…read it if you want to…"

"No, I don't want it." Alice said, throwing the papers away.

Dana sighed. She was lost and didn't have the will to fight anymore. She nodded before picking up her bag and turning to leave. "Goodbye, Alice." She said, her voice breaking again.

Just when she made her way out, Shane came in. "Dana?" Shane asked, when she saw the tears in her eyes.

"Bye, Shane. I'm glad I got to know you." She said, giving Shane a quick hug before running out. She closed the door and turned to Alice. "Al?"

Alice didn't say anything. She finally broke down crying, taking everything in that had happened. Shane rushed over to her best friend and pulled her close while she sobbed. "It hurts, Shane. It hurts so much."

"I know." Shane simply answered, pulling her friend even closer, running her hand up and down her back.

Alice finally pulled away. "Did you find Carmen?" She asked, blowing her nose.

"No, I think she left." Shane sighed.

"Go after her, Shane." Alice said. "You have to go talk to her, go to her place and explain."

"You think she will listen to me?"

Alice nodded. "She will."

"I don't even know what to say to her, Al." Shane said.

"Tell her how you really feel."

"What about our stuff?"

"I'll take care of everything, I'm in no state to drive home now anyways." Alice said.

"You sure?"

"Yes, just go, go get your girl back."

"Thanks, Al, I love you." Shane said, pulling Alice in another hug.

"Me too, now go." Alice faintly smiled as she saw Shane run out. She took a deep breath, before turning around. She began to put away their stuff when her gaze fell on the papers that Dana gave her that were now in the trashcan. She hesistated before picking them back out and shoving them in her purse before walking out with some of the stuff already.

**Disclaimer**: Song (Brandy – Tomorrow) isn't owned by me. And course, I own nothing but my imagination.


	22. Chapter 22a

_Special shout out to: __**hankthefluuphiwaffle**__ for always leaving me a review, It's very much appreciated! So thank you for that!_

_Hope you like this next one as well._

**Chapter 22** a

"Shane?" Carmen asked, opening the door.

"Can I come in?"

"I don't know, why are you here?"

"We need to talk, I need to explain some things…please?"

"Okay." Carmen moved aside to let Shane in. They walked into the livingroom and went to sit down on the couch. "Explain." Carmen said.

"I… I don't really know where to start." Shane admitted. "How are you?"

"How am I?" Carmen snorted. "Shane, you dumped me, this whole evening has been a total disaster, my best friend is so heartbroken and in pain that I can't do anything to help her and you ask me how I am doing?"

"Sorry." Shane replied. She knew that was a dumb question but she wanted the conversation to be somewhat normal.

"Why couldn't you just tell me, Shane?"

"I didn't know how, I wanted to but everytime I saw you I just chickened out."

"So, you just thought that ignoring me and making me feel like _I _was the one that did something wrong seemed better?"

"I said I was sorry, Carmen!"

"Maybe this was a bad idea." Carmen said, getting up from the couch.

Shane stopped her from getting up. "No...please, I don't want to fight, I'm just not good at these things."

"I've noticed."

"Just tell me how to fix this." Shane asked, putting her hands on Carmen's arms.

"You'll have to figure that one out on your own, Shane."

"I'm sorry for what I have done, Carmen. I made a decision without thinking about it. I just looked at Alice, she looked so lost and agreed with her and told her that I would come with her but Carmen, that decision made me feel so bad…I didn't want to move back home…I didn't want to leave…you."

"But you did…you left me…you are leaving me." Carmen said, her voice breaking. "You know, Shane. This isn't really making me feel better." She said, getting off the couch, she started pacing.

Shane got up and walked over to where Carmen stood by the door. She put her arms around her, looked at her intently and just hugged her. "I'm so sorry, Carmen." She muffled in Carmen's hair. Carmen put her arms around Shane as well and hugged her back. "I missed you, Carmen…I do care about you." Shane said, breaking the hug and looking in Carmen's eyes while she slowly leaned in towards Carmen.

"Don't…" Carmen whispered, pulling away slightly.

"Why not?" Shane asked softly.

"Because then I can't miss something I never had." Carmen whispered.

Shane looked at her, her whole face changing when she heard what Carmen said. She tried to lean in again but Carmen didn't let her.

Carmen broke away completely. "Shane, you are leaving…you can't come over, try to kiss me and mess with my head like this." Carmen was starting to lose her temper. "Dammit Shane! We had been running after each other for months, then we finally get somewhere and then you go and do this…!" She picked up a pillow and threw it at Shane. "Argh, I HATE YOU and I hate how you made me feel!" Carmen was picking up everything she could find in her way and threw it at Shane, who tried to prevent from getting hit.

"You feel better now?" Shane asked, letting Carmen ramble on to get it out of her system.

"NO!" Carmen shouted at her, pacing back and forth.

"Something else you'd rather try?"

"Yeah, but I don't think I can lift the tv."

"I'm not leaving." Shane said finally.

"What?"

"I'm not leaving." Shane said. "Carmen, I'm not going to leave…I want to stay here…with you, if you still want me to."

"You want to stay here as friends or more?" Carmen needed to hear it from Shane.

"I want what you want."

"Shane, I need you to say it to me, I need to hear what _you_ want, I need to know how _you_ feel." Carmen said. Shane didn't really know what to say to this.

"I'm not good at this, Carmen." Shane said.

"I don't want any of that anymore, Shane!"

"I'm sorry okay!…I never did this before…and I'm so scared to say it…" Shane said, now the one who was pacing around. "God, Carmen…look at you…you are beautiful, intelligent, smart, funny…sometimes I wonder why there aren't dozens of other people in love with you like I am…but man, it frightens me so much sometimes to feel what I feel when I look at you!" Shane rambled. "So sorry alright!, sorry that I don't know how to tell you everything I feel because this is the first time in my life that I actually felt like this!" Shane shouted.

"What did you just say?" Carmen whispered.

"I never felt like this before."

Carmen shook her head. "Before that, the in love part?" Carmen said, shocked at what Shane had just told her. "You just said you loved me."

Shane stood still, she thought about what she had said, she did say that. She said she was in love with Carmen, she admitted it. "It's true, Carmen." Shane whispered. "Sorry, it came out all wrong."

Carmen stepped closer to Shane. "I think you said it perfectly." She whispered. Knowing that Shane didn't mean to shout it out like that made Carmen believe it even more.

Shane looked at Carmen who now stood inches away from her. "So?" Shane swallowed. "What happens now?"

"Now…" Carmen said, putting her arms around Shane's shoulders. "…you kiss me."

"Yeah?" Shane smiled.

Carmen nodded. "Yeah." She replied, smiling brightly back at Shane.

Shane made a final step closer pressing their bodies together. She slowly ran her hands up Carmen's arms, over her shoulders and into her hair before leaning in and finally kissing her. Both had missed this so much. It seemed like forever ago since they last did this.

Shane softly backed Carmen up against the door while she kissed her. Carmen moaned when she felt Shane's tongue against her own. "God, I've missed this." Shane muttered against Carmen's lips. She placed kisses all over Carmen's face and went down to her neck, lightly sucking on the soft skin she found there. "I'm sorry I was such an asshole, Carmen." Shane said, when they broke apart. Neither of them letting go of each other.

Carmen placed a soft peck on Shane's lips. "It's okay, Shane. I forgive you." She said, smiling at Shane and looking in her eyes. She leaned in and hugged Shane who immediately pulled her close. "I missed you." Carmen said, putting her head on Shane's shoulder.

Shane soon became intoxicated by Carmen's scent. She nuzzles against Carmen's cheek, both of them lost in their own world. Carmen looked up again, into Shane's eyes. She lowered her head and their lips met again. Softly kissing, both could feel the sparks of passion flying off of each other. Their lips hungrily seeking out each other. Shane's hand moved to Carmen's neck again, when she started to deepen the kiss. Finally, they came up for air. Their foreheads touching, and they looked deeply into each others eyes.

"That was nice." Shane said, her voice a little hoarse.

Carmen nodded. "I liked it." She said. "I'm thinking of going to bed." Carmen said, her voice hinting something more which Shane didn't quite get.

"Oh." Shane said dissapointed. "I'll leave you then." She said. "I can kiss you goodbye though, right?" She asked.

"Of course you can…," Carmen said, her hand coming up against Shane's lips to stop Shane from kissing her. "…tomorrow morning." She said, taking Shane's hand and leading her to the bedroom.

_Dun dun dun, wonder what's going to happen next… *wink wink*_

**TBC**


	23. Chapter 22b

Okay, here's the next one, hope you like it.

Beware: Sexual content below (but we all like that right?)

**Chapter 22 b **

Shane was already kissing Carmen again by the time they reached the bedroom. Carmen led Shane into it and kicked the door shut with her foot, her hands working on Shane's pants, who kicked them away while being backed up to the bed. Her pants landed on the dresser, knocking over some picture frames that were on it.

Laughing, they fell on the bed, both of them trying to fight to be on top. Hands where roaming and neither were sure if they would find half of their clothes in the morning. Shane won the battle and softly kissed Carmen's skin, first on her lips, then making her way down Carmen's body. Shane heard her name being gasped out when had reached Carmen's chest.

Shane pulled Carmen's bra off, her shirt already long missing while they were making their way to the room just a few seconds ago. She immediately gave each breast her undivided attention, kissing them all over. Moans escaped Carmen's mouth when Shane started to make her way down, kissing every piece of skin she found along the way. Shane placed light kisses around Carmen's navel then stopping to undo her pants. Softly pulling them down her ankles, she kissed Carmen's feet before moving up slowly to kiss each of her thighs.

Shane looked up at Carmen, who was breathing heavily. She slowly made her way back up Carmen's body, never breaking contact with her, exploring every part of her. "I love you." Shane whispered against Carmen's lips, kissing her and sliping in her tongue.

Carmen moaned again when she felt Shane's knee pressing down against her center. She gripped the sheets under her when she felt Shane's hand trail down her body, only stopping to carress her breast before moving over her heaving belly and between her legs. Carmen gasped out when Shane's hand found Carmen's center. Her hand slowly caressed and lingered around where she knew Carmen wanted it the most, but she didn't quite give in yet.

"Please." Carmen whined, turning her body in hope that Shane would touch her where she wanted it.

"Shh." Shane kissed Carmen softly as she moved lower again. Growing impatient Carmen pulled on Shane's hand placing it where she wanted it. Feeling the need and urgency in Carmen's touch, Shane gave in and started drawing circles in her centre with her tongue, flicking in circular motions drawing circles. Carmen's head snapped back when Shane's mouth found her centre. She pressed forward when her tongue darted out to touch her there.

Squirming and moving with Shane's rhythm, Carmen grabbed Shane's hair tugging at it feeling as if she was about to explode. It didn't take long before Carmen's hips buckled and she let go, yelling out cries of pleasure.

Shane let Carmen come down from her high while she kissed her way back up. Carmen's chest was heaving up and down. "Wow." Carmen whispered, finally finding her ability to speak again. She put her hands on Shane's face and pulled her in for a kiss. She could taste herself on Shane's lips. The Latina leaned up and rolled them both over so she could be on top. "My turn." She said before returning the pleasure to Shane.

Carmen felt herself waking up, she didn't want to though. She wanted to sleep more, stay in the warm place she was in right now. Hidden under the covers, with no care in the world. She reached out blindly next to her and her hands found someone else's leg. "_This ain't right."_ She thought, as she pulled the cover from over her head and turned around. "Hey." She said, looking up at Shane.

"Good morning, beautiful." Shane said, looking at Carmen with a warm smile.

"What are you doing?" She asked, laying her head on Shane's lap, her hand going to Shane's hip.

"Watching you sleep." Shane answered, running her hand through Carmen's hair.

"Come back down here." She said, taking Shane's hand and pulling her down, so they were face to face.

Neither said anything for that moment, it was a comfortable silence between them. They just looked in each other eyes, small smiles on their lips. Shane was the first one to break and lean in to kiss Carmen. Her hand going on the back of Carmen's bare back to pull her close. Their legs tangling together.

"This is nice." Shane said.

"It is, isn't it?" Carmen agreed, while she softly ran her fingers over Shane's arm.

"Sleep well?" Shane asked, with a small smirk.

"Like a baby, you?"

"I couldn't sleep very well."

"How come?"

"I was afraid I would wake up and you would have been a dream." Shane said, making Carmen's heart melt. "And, I just wanted to watch you sleep." Shane added.

"You are so sweet, you know that?" Carmen asked.

Shane just smiled and gave Carmen a peck on the lips. Then she laughed softly.

"What?" Carmen asked, curious as why Shane laughed.

"I'd never thought I'd do this."

"What?"

"The morning after talk, the cuddling part." Shane said. "But I'm glad you are my first."

"Okay, keep talking to me like that and we'll be doing the same thing in a few hours."

"You promise?" Shane asked.

Shane walked into the kitchen. "Hey, you promised me another morning after talk." Shane said, walking up behind Carmen. She put her hands on Carmen's hip and rested her head on Carmen's shoulder to look at what she was doing.

Carmen leaned into Shane. "Sorry baby, I was hungry so I thought I'd make us breakfast while you slept more."

Shane moved some of Carmen's hair away so she could kiss her neck. "You should have woken me up so I could make us breakfast." She muttered against Carmen's neck.

"You?" Carmen asked before turning around to face Shane.

"Hey now…" She said, pretenting to be insulted but still smiling. "I'll have you know that I'm an excellent cook." Shane said, putting her arms around Carmen.

"Oh yeah?" She asked, leaning in closer to Shane.

"Yeah." Shane said, leaning in closer as well. Their heads inches away from each other.

"I guess you'll have to prove it to me then…say tomorrow morning?" Carmen asked with a flirtious grin.

"Deal." Shane said pushing Carmen against the counter and kissing her. The kiss soon got heated as Shane ran her hands under Carmen's shirt. Carmen moaned as Shane's hands reached her breast. Shane heard this and quickly lifted Carmen on top of the counter and started kissing her neck. "How hungry are you?" She asked in between kisses.

"…V…very." Carmen breathed out, no longer talking about breakfast. She put her hands on Shane's head to keep her close while she was kissing her neck. Shane looked up into Carmen's eyes and saw the need there. She quickly took Carmen's shirt off and kissed her way down when the doorbell rang.

Shane halted her movement, her lips attached on Carmen's chest. "Ignore it." She said, kissing Carmen again. The doorbell rang again, more persistent this time. Shane hung her head low in defeat. The moment now ruined by whoever was at the door.

"Sorry baby." Carmen said, her breathing still a little uneven. She hopped off of the counter and put her shirt back on. She pulled Shane closer by her shirt and kissed her passiontly. "You better finish what you started later." She said before walking out of the kitchen, leaving Shane standing there looking very flustered.


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

"Hey Dana." Carmen said when she saw Dana at the door.

"Hey, Can I come in?" Dana asked. "I want to talk to you."

"Sure." Carmen said, moving out of the way to let Dana in.

"Thanks." Dana smiled.

"So, what's up?" Carmen said as she joined Dana on the couch.

"Could you ask Shane to come here as well?" Dana asked. "I want her to hear this as well."

Carmen looked a bit shocked that Dana knew Shane was here but didn't ask about it. She just called out for Shane. "Shane, could you come in here, please." Carmen yelled.

"Sure baby, what's u…" Shane stopped when she saw Dana on the couch. "Dana."

"Dana wants to say something and she wants you to hear it as well." Carmen said to Shane as she went to sit next to Carmen on the couch.

"Oh, okay." Shane said, turning her attention to Dana. "How did you know I was here?" Shane asked the question that also Carmen wanted to know.

"I heard you two going at it last night..." Dana said seriously. "all the way to my house."

"WHAT?" Carmen and Shane both yelled.

"Oh please." Dana said, laughing. "You two are so easy to fool." She said. "I saw Shane's car in front of your house." She added.

"Oh…right." Shane said, looking at Carmen, both of them slightly blushing.

"So hmm, you wanted to talk to us?" Carmen asked, eager to change the topic.

"Yes." Dana said, her face turning serious again. "I know that all of the crap that happened around here was my fault so…I talked to my parents last night and I've decided…to move back home." Dana said, her voice showing no emotions.

"What?" Carmen asked, her eyes already tearing up. She looked at Shane, who looked as shocked about what Dana had just said. "Why?" Carmen asked, turning back to Dana.

"Carmen, I've made every wrong decision I could have possibly taken over these last few months." Dana said. "So I'm going to do the right thing for once and move away."

"How is that the right thing to do?" Carmen asked.

"If I move…Alice and Shane can stay…" Dana explained. "They can continue their band and Shane doesn't have to miss her best friend."

"But I can miss mine?" Carmen asked with hurt in her voice.

"Carmen, please understand that I can't stay here anymore." Dana said, her voice finally giving away as well as tears ran down her face. She moved from the couch and moved over to were Carmen sat. "It hurts to much…I can't take it anymore." Dana said. "Moving away is the best thing for me right now."

"Dana, you don't have to do this." Shane said. "Alice made the decision to move away…and I accept that, just as Alice accepted that I'm going to stay here with Carmen."

"I'm sure you can concinve her to stay." Dana said, smiling lightly at the news that Shane already decided to stay. "I know she loves the band as much as you do, she'll stay when she hears I'm gone." Dana said, determined about her decision.

"When are you leaving?" Carmen whispered.

"Tonight."

"Tonight!" Carmen yelled. "Can't you at least stay a few more days?"

Dana shook her head. "My parents already sent their jet out to come and pick me up."

Carmen looked heartbroken and Shane sat in shock. Both not sure what to make of this or how to react to this news. Shane looked at Carmen, she saw tears running softly from her face and took her hand in her own.

"Will I ever see you again?" Carmen asked, looking up at Dana.

Dana's face was wet with tears, she pulled Carmen into a hug. "Of course you will!" Dana said, holding onto Carmen tightly. "You are my best friend, Carmen. I love you so much." She said. "I promise that I'll come back and see you, both of you…maybe even Alice will want to see me in a few months time." She said, pulling away from Carmen, with a bit of hope in her voice.

"I'm going to miss you so much, Dane."

"Me too." She said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I promised Dana I would go tell Alice the whole story."

"I can do it alone as well, if you are not upto it?"

"I'll be fine, Shane."

Shane and Carmen where sitting in Shane's car, in front of Shane and Alice's house. They had just arrived there and now had to go in and tell Alice the news about Dana leaving. Shane took a deep breath before getting out of her car, Carmen following behind her. Shane waited for Carmen and took her hand to lead her to the door.

"Alice?" Shane yelled out when both of them entered the house.

"Hey Shane…" Alice said, coming out of her room with a big bag in her hands. "…and Carmen, let me just put this away okay?" She smiled, seeing Carmen with Shane, holding hands. She walked past Shane. "Well done." She wispered as she passed her, patting her on the shoulder while she went to put her bag away.

Shane smiled at Alice's comment. She was happy, happy that she had told Carmen how she felt, happy that she was now here with Carmen. She wished they didn't have to go through with telling Alice about Dana though. Shane lead Carmen to the livingroom where they sat down to wait for Alice to return.

"So…what's up?" Alice asked when she came back in, she started putting some stuff away in another bag. "I take it, everything went well last night?" Alice said with a smile.

"Alice, could you sit down for a moment." Shane asked, not anwsering Alice's question. "We need to talk." She said, seriously.

Alice stopped packing when she heard Shane. She turned around to face both of them. Only now noticing the look on Carmen's face. "What's wrong? What happened?" She asked, sensing the tension in the room.

Shane looked at Carmen, who nodded. "It's about Dana…" Carmen said.

"I'm not sure if I want to know." Alice started, getting off the couch already.

"Alice, she's leaving." Carmen said, which made Alice stop walking.

"What?" Alice said, slightly shocked at the news. She went to sit back down, not sure how to react to the news Carmen just told her. Sure, she was going to move anyways but that meant that when she would come back to visit Shane, she wouldn't be able to catch a glipse of Dana anymore either.

"She said that everything is her fault and she's moving back home with her parents." Carmen said, her voice sad.

"When?"

"Tonight. Her parents are sending out the jet to come and pick her up."

"Jet?" Alice asked.

Carmen nodded. "Dana's parents are pretty wealthy, they own a few golf courses all over America that are passed on from generation to generation." Carmen said, explaining more about Dana's history. "Her parents always wanted her to become a proffesional golf player but Dana's heart was never really in it. Dana wanted to live her own life and do what she wanted to do…her parents never supported her decision. They even gave her a huge amount of money to make her change her mind and stay with them…they had her whole life figured out already."

"She never told me that." Alice said.

"Alice, Dana wanted to forget her past. Her parents wanted to uphold the whole prestiges thing, compete with friends, showing other they are better then the rest…Dana isn't like that…she didn't want to live that kind of life. She wanted to have fun, be happy…not spend every day competing for something she didn't understand, nor want."

"Couldn't her parents see that she wasn't happy then?"

Carmen shook her head. "No, they only saw what they wanted to see. Dana did what they wanted for a very long time. When she finally had the guts to tell her parents that she was gay, they never accepted it, they even ignored the fact that she ever told them…Dana couldn't get over that…she couldn't understand why her parents couldn't accept that, why they, for once, couldn't do something to make Dana happy. She wanted so bad for them to accept it but they never did. One time they forced this guy on her, they told their friends that Dana was going to get married, they even planned a whole wedding for her…Dana took off and came to live here…she broke all contact with her parents until last night I guess."

"Alice, Dana wants you to stay." Shane said.

"I already packed everything." Alice whispered.

"Just stay, Alice." Carmen said. "Dana is leaving tonight, so there is no reason why you should leave now."

Alice nodded. "I'm sorry, Carmen." She said, feeling bad for Carmen now. "I didn't mean for this to happen."

"Couldn't you go and convince her to stay?" Carmen pleaded. "I don't want Dana to leave."

Alice put her head down. "I can't, Carmen." Alice said. "Dana and I are over, I'm sorry."

"Can't you both just fix it?"

Alice shook her head. "No, too much has happened, Carmen."

"So, you are just going to let her leave like that?" Carmen asked, slightly angry about the fact that Alice could be this stubborn.

Alice didn't say anything. She just looked down, tears visible in her eyes. She tried desperately to hold them back. Carmen waited to see if Alice would say anything…she nodded her head when she saw that she wouldn't anwser.

"You know, I don't get this!" Carmen started, getting off of the couch to start pacing. "I don't get why both of you just can't continue to live here. Can't you both just work this out, I'm not saying to get back together but at least you could try to be civil around each other!" She said, putting her hands on her hips, clearly agitated and upset about this whole situation.

"I'm sorry, Carmen." Alice said again.

Carmen shook her head in disappointment. "I need some fresh air." She said. Shane got up but Carmen put her hand up to stop Shane. "I need some time alone." She said to Shane, who just nodded at her, a bit dissapointed that Carmen shut her out. "I'll be back in a bit, okay?" She said to Shane as she leaned in to give her a kiss. Shane smiled at her and watched as Carmen walked out.

Both Shane and Alice sat in silence. "She's mad at me." Alice finally said.

"She's not mad, Al. She's just upset that Dana's leaving." Shane replied, going over to Alice.

"I didn't ask for this, Shane."

"I know…" Shane replied. "Alice, is this what you really want? 'Cause I know you still have feelings for Dana. I know you still care. Can't you just give it some time and maybe try things again? Dana really is sorry about all that happened, Al."

Alice didn't reply anymore. "I'm going to go unpack." She said, getting off of the couch.


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

The next couple of weeks went by slowly. Dana had left and Carmen was missing her a lot. A part of her life was missing. She missed the way both of them used to go over to each other's house, the way they'd spend evenings together watching movies because both of them were bored out of their minds. Carmen was also sad that Dana hadn't called her yet to say how things were going. The Latina tried calling a few times herself but always got her voice mail. Carmen figured that Dana was too busy settling down there. She just hoped Dana was happy now.

Shane and Carmen were lying on the couch, facing each other, legs tangled together and talking softly to each other. They had been doing that a lot lately. Shane never thought she would like doing it so much but she found that it relaxed her. She liked having Carmen in her arms like this, holding her close as they talked to each other.

"I hope Dana calls me soon." Carmen said, after both of them had been silent for a while now.

"Still no word from her?"

"No, I wonder why she hasn't called me yet."

"Maybe she just hasn't found the time yet."

"I guess."

"Maybe you have to try calling her again?" Shane suggested, hating that her girlfriend was feeling down like this. She also wondered why Dana hadn't contacted Carmen yet.

"I already tried, she never answers, it's like her phone is constantly switched off." Carmen sighed. "I'm starting to get worried."

"I'm sure she'll call when she has the time." Shane assured Carmen, pulling her closer and kissing her on the head.

"I love you." Carmen whispered.

Shane smiled at hearing Carmen's words. She could never get tired of hearing those words."I love you too, baby." Shane said, kissing Carmen soflty. Her hands going into Carmen's hair.

"Hey lovebirds, what's up?" Alice said coming in the room, interrupting their moment.

Carmen and Shane broke away and looked at Alice. "Hey Al." Shane smiled. "Found everything?" Shane asked. Alice had been shopping.

"Yep, just have to go back to find some shirts and then I have everything I need." Alice said, plopping down on the couch.

"That's probably the only thing left in the store anyways." Shane laughed, looking at Alice's amount of bags.

"Hey I can spoil myself at times, can't I?" Alice asked.

"Of course you can." Shane said. "You aren't the only one who does it." Shane said, eyeing Carmen descreetly, who caught her looking.

"Hey!" Carmen said, trying to look offended. "I did not buy _everything_ at the store."

"No?" Shane asked. "The owner had to close the store when we left!"

"She closed cause it was closing time, Shane. Not because I bought it all."

"HA! So you admit you bought it all!" Shane teased, glad that Carmen was laughing again.

"You are mean, Shane." Carmen pouted.

"Oh, I was only kidding." Shane said, turning back to Alice. "She only bought half the store." She said, earning a smack on the arm by Carmen by making that comment.

"You two are _too_ cute." Alice said. "I'm going to get the rest of my stuff out of the car." Alice said, jumping back up.

"There's more?" Shane asked, shocked.

"YEP." Alice shouted as she ran in the hallway. She opened the door and ran into someone.

"I knew you would be happy to see me but you didn't have to body-check me." The person said.

"Helena?" Alice said, not expecting her friend to be there. "Oh my god! Helena." She said again, jumping up and down in happiness. "I'm so glad to see you." She said, hugging her friend. "Shane, get over here!" Alice yelled.

"I"m busy, Alice." Shane shouted back, obviously she didn't hear Alice's shouting.

Alice rolled her eyes. "She's making out with her girlfriend." Alice said to Helena. "Come on." She said, taking Helena's hand and leading her inside.

"Well, well, well, who would've thought we'd see the day that Shane McCutcheon is in a relationship." Helena said, as she saw Shane on the couch with Carmen.

Shane stopped kissing Carmen. "I know that voice." She said, lifting herself up and looking over the couch. She jumped up and went over to Helena. "Helena! What are you doing here?" She said, hugging her friend as well.

"Well, since _neither_ of you moved back home like you said you would…"Helena started. "I decided I would check this place out myself."

"I'm so glad to see you." Shane said, looking over to Carmen, who by now had sat up on the couch. "Helena, this is Carmen…" Shane started. She held her hand out for Carmen to take. Carmen took it as she went to stand next to Shane. "My girlfriend." She said, with pride.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Carmen." Helena said, holding out her hand which Carmen shook. "I'm glad someone got to tame down our Shane here."

"It wasn't easy." Carmen joked.

"I bet." Helena said.

"Hey! I'm standing right here, you know!" Shane said, getting in between them.

Helena had spent the whole day just talking to Alice, Shane and Carmen. They caught up and filled Carmen in about things. They were all sitting at the dinnertable now.

"Well, Tina and Bette are trying to get pregant."

"That's great!" Shane and Alice said.

"Bette and Tina have been together like forever." Shane informed Carmen.

"Do they already have kids?" Carmen asked.

"No, this will be their first one, they are really exited about this." Helena said. "They told everyone about it, including my mother." She said. "She now wants me to get a baby as well."

"What?" Alice asked. "Why?"

"She said, that everyone of her friend's daughters already have kids so now she wants me to get one." Helena said, rolling her eyes.

"Are they also competing for the amount of babies?" Alice asked, sarcasm clearly in her voice.

"Please, never say that in front of my mother!" Helena warned. "She'll make a contest out of it…she has the power." Helena said while the others laughed.

"Oh please..." Alice said. "You know you love to outshine people just as much as your mother does."

"Not with a contest like that!"

"Whatever." Alice said, obviously not convinced. "Helena's rich." Alice said, turning to Carmen.

"Alice!" Helena shouted.

"What?" Alice asked. "You love people talking about you and your money!"

Helena shrugged. "True, I just though I'd be modest for a change…you're right, doesn't work for me."

Everyone laughed at her comment. "Anyone want something else to drink?" Shane asked, getting up from her chair. "Wine everyone?" She asked. "Wine it is." She said when they all nodded their heads before walking off into the kitchen.

"Anyways, as I was saying, Helena is rich…" Alice said again, turning back to Carmen. "She is the sole heir of her mothers fortune, have a private golf track, pools, cars erm…am I forgetting something?" Alice asked Helena.

"Private jets." Helena informed.

"Right." Alice said, "They also have priva….since when?" Alice asked, her eyes nearly popping out.

"Since a friend of my mom bought one." Helena said, rolling her eyes. "Mom bought two, one for me and one for herself."

Shane came back in and poured everyone some more wine before sitting back down next to Carmen. She took Carmen's hand and smiled.

"Wow, wish I had a mother like that." Carmen said.

"No, you don't." All three of them said.

"Although I must say, my mom has been really cool lately." Helena said. "She even was nice to my girlfriend the other day."

"You have a girlfriend?" Shane asked Helena who nodded.

"You are here all day and you didn't care to mention this before?" Alice asked.

"What was I suposse do to?" Helena asked. "Ring the bell and go: "Hey Al, haven't seen you in ages but I have a girlfriend." She laughed.

"Something like that…" Alice muttered. "So come on, tell us." Alice said. "What's her name? Where did you meet?"

"Well, her name is Dylan and believe it or not I met her at one of my mothers charities."

"So, she's also rich?"

"Alice! You don't ask such a thing." Shane chipped in.

Helena laughed. "It's okay, Shane. I missed Alice's innopropriate questions." She said as Alice rolled her eyes but looked somewhat proud at the same time. "Dylan was working there." Helena informed. "Mother almost had an heartattack when I introduced her, she…" Helena said, when her phone started ringing. "Speak of the devil." She said, picking up the phone. "Hello, mommy…yes…who?...no i haven't seen her in years…when?...what happened?...I hope they find her soon…no, mother, I'm not on a secret vacation with Dylan." Helena rolled her eyes. "I told you she's in Europe visiting relatives…okay, I'll tell them…bye mother." Helena said, ending the phone call. "Mother says hi."

"What was that all about?" Shane asked.

"Someone I used to know is gone missing." Helena said. "Her family are starting to get worried."

"What happened?" Alice asked.

"Seems like she had some bad break-up with a guy she was going get married to." Helena said. "She was supposse to move back home cause she couldn't deal seeing him every day but never gotten on the plane."

"Did they call the police?"

"No, wait there's more." Helena asked. "Rumor has it that…" Helena said, getting closer like she was going to reveal some big secret, everyone leaned in. "…she's gay." Helena wispered. "If they call the police they would have to tell them the truth I guess…her family have always trying to maintain being the perfect family. Their daughter always did what she was told, I swear that girl is a saint!" Helena said.

"Looks like it."

"It's true. You could tell she never wanted to go to charities or go out with some guy at an auction but she always did cause her parents asked her to and they where wellknown all over the country."

Carmen looked confused, this sounded awfully familiar. "Wait, what did you say her name was?"

"Dana, Dana Fairbanks"


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

"What?" Alice asked, shocked at what her friend had just revealed. Dana was missing?

Carmen sat in shock for a moment before she jumped up to grab her cell phone and started dialling Dana's number. She paced back and forth as she waited for Dana to anwser.

"What's going on?" Helena asked, totally out of the blue with everything. She looked at Alice for an anwser but saw that she was just staring before her. She turned to Shane.

"Dana is Carmen's best friend…" Shane informed.

"Carmen's best friend?" Helena asked, before turning her head back to Alice. "This Dana is Alice's Dana?" Helena asked.

Shane nodded. "Yes." She said. "Alice, are you okay?" She asked, putting her hand over Alice's shoulder.

"I have to go." Alice said, snapping out of her trance before getting up and running into her room. She picked up her phone and also dialled Dana's number.

Back in the livingroom, both Helena and Shane looked at Carmen who was trying to call Dana again after the first time didn't work.

"Dammit Dana, pick up your damn phone." Carmen screamed when she once again didn't get an anwser. "I have to go look for her." Carmen said, picking up her stuff to leave.

Shane jumped up from her chair. "Baby, you don't even know where she is."

"I know that!" Carmen said, yelling louder then she intented. "I can't just do nothing." Carmen said. "What if something happened to her?"

"Just calm down, okay." Shane said.

"I can't calm down, Shane!" Carmen said, walking past Shane. "My best friend is missing, how can I calm down?"

"Sorry." Shane said. "I was just trying to help."

"I know." Carmen said, her voice softening. "What else did your mother say?" Carmen asked Helena.

"Nothing much, most of it was just gossip."

"Tell me anyways."

"Well, mommy's version was that Dana had gotten into an argument with her mother and decided not to go home after all. But that's just what my mom heard and thought, Carmen. It doesn't mean it's true. I mean, she also heard that Dana was going to get married and that wasn't true either was it?"

"No." Carmen replied. "Dammit Dana, why couldn't you just come back home then!"

"Are there any other relatives she would go to?" Shane asked.

"No, Dana didn't have contact with them anymore." Carmen said. "She just spoke to her brother, who still lives at home with her parents."

"Maybe you should try to contact him?" Shane suggested.

"I don't have his number." Carmen said. "Maybe I can find it at Dana's house." Carmen said. "Can you take me there, Shane?"

"Sure, let's go." Shane said. "Helena, will you be okay here?" Shane asked. "And could you maybe go check on Alice?"

"Of course, go go. I'll be fine."

"Alice?" Helena asked, as she knocked at Alice's bedroom door. When she didn't get an anwser, she opened the door slowly and peeked inside. Alice sat on her bed, looking down at her hands. "Are you okay?" Helena asked as she walked inside.

"I swore to myself that I didn't care about her anymore." Alice whispered.

Helena went to sit down next to Alice on the bed. "But you still do?"

"She hurt me really bad, Hel. But hearing that she's missing…"

"…makes you want to see her?" Helena finished.

"Yeah." Alice said, still looking down. "This is a letter she gave me before she left." Alice said, mentioning the letter she was holding in her hands. "I threw it away when she gave it to me, I pretented I didn't care." Alice said, tears now slowly running down her face.

"What does it say?"

"I don't know, I never read it." Alice said. "I'm worried, Hel. What if something bad has happened to her?" Alice asked.

Helena put her arm around Alice's shoulder. "I'm sure she's okay, Alice." Helena said, trying to comfort her friend. "Dana is a strong woman, I'm sure she's fine."

"It's my fault she left, Helena." Alice said. "I'll never forgive myself if something happened to her."

"You didn't force her to leave did you?"

"No, but I was such a bitch towards her." Alice said. "She tried to talk to me over and over and I shot her down every time."

"You were hurt, Alice." Helena said. "This isn't your fault."

"Maybe I should have been more patient with her. Give her more time…"

"You don't know if it would have helped, right?" Helena replied. "You can't take the blame for this Alice. It takes two people to argue or fight."

Alice nodded. "Lately it was all we did. I wish she wasn't so damn insecure." She said, shaking her head. "She hurt me by doing that."

"I'm sure she didn't mean for you to get hurt, Al." Helena said. "She's never had it easy I guess."

"Did you know Dana was gay?"

"I knew her a long time ago, Alice. We were so young back then" Helena said. "I suspected she was but she never told me."

"Where you two close?"

"There was a time we used to be, yes." Helena replied. "We were kind of the same, she didn't like her parents attitude and I didn't like my mom's, so we used to hide-out togheter." Helena laughed, thinking back at that time.

"Seems like you had fun back then."

"Yeah, Dana is a cool girl." Helena said.

"Yeah." Alice replied softly. "Did your mom say anything about where she could be?"

Helena shook her head. "No, she really didn't know much except for all the gossip stories. I do think that Dana probably got in a fight with her mother though. Her mom isn't the easiest person to deal with."

"Is she really that bad?"

Helena nodded her head. "If you think my mom is bad, then be happy you haven't met Dana's. Sometimes I felt so bad for Dana, the things her mother made her think about herself, or just the way she spoke to Dana, it was like she never could do anything right when all Dana did was listen to her mother and do all the things she asked…"

"I didn't know." Alice said, fidgeting with the papers in her hands.

"Do you want to read it?" Helena asked, noticing Alice still looking at the letter.

Alice thought about it. "No, it won't make a difference anyways." She said, putting the letter away.

"Dammit, I can't find a single number!" Carmen said, looking through a few papers. She slammed the closet door shut. She opened the next one and franticly started looking through them.

Shane, who had been watching in silence, walked up to her and put her hands on Carmen's shoulder. "Calm down, Honey."

Carmen stopped going through the papers. "I'm worried, Shane." Carmen said, turning around.

"Dana is a big girl, she'll be fine."

"You don't know that!" Carmen said, pulling away from Shane to pace around the room. "She was heartbroken, in pain, lost and so unhappy when she left. What if she did something to herself? Or what is she was kidnapped, or what if…"

Shane walked up again and hugged Carmen. "Don't think like that okay, I'm sure Dana is fine." Shane said, running her hands up and down Carmen's back to comfort her. Carmen clung to Shane as she cried, worried about her best friend. "She'll come back."

"Why doesn't she just call me?"

"Maybe she just wants some time to work through her problems."

"I can't stand not knowing if she's fine or not."

"She'll call you once she hears your message."

Carmen nodded. "You're right." Carmen said with a small smile. "I wish I would have found a number, anything to know more."

"Maybe you should try to get some sleep?" Shane suggested, seeing the exhausted look on her girlfriends face. The emotions of the evening had totally drained her.

"Yeah, I can't find anything here anyways." Carmen said, taking Shane's hand and walking through the door. She locked it and they made their way over to Carmen's house.

Carmen stopped at her door and turned to Shane. "Will you stay with me tonight?"

Shane smiled. "Of course I will, but I'm going to call Alice to see if she is okay."

"Oh, if you want to go check on her to see…"

"No no, I want to stay with you, I just want to make sure she's okay." Shane started. "I mean, she may act like she doesn't care about Dana, but I know better."

"I'm glad you are here." Carmen said, taking Shane's hand and giving it a small squeeze.

"There is nowhere else I'd rather be, Carm." Shane replied, giving Carmen a kiss.


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter 2****6**

It had been over a week since they found out about Dana being missing. A week and they still hadn't heard about her or had any ideas on where she could be. Alice, even though, she didn't really admit it was probably worried about her the most. She sat, as most nights before, alone in her room.

"_Alice,_

_I come here today, in this way, because I need to apologize to you. I need you to listen to me and this seemed like the only option left for me to prove to you how sorry I truly am._

_I know I have been very stupid. And I know I am not perfect. I also know that I love you. I know I made a mistake. But together we can face any challenge. You told me once if we are together we can do everything. All we need is to love each other._

_Sorry if sometimes I seem not to care. Sorry if sometimes I do not appreciate you. No one can make me laugh and smile like you do. You are the only one that ever made me so happy. I know that I'm not perfect but I know that I don't want to give you up. _

_I have waited too long to hold you in my arms. I know that we belong together. I do love you and don't want to break up with you. That would just make me even more imperfect than I already am._

_I really had sleepless nights, moving here and there on my bed and thinking about what happened to us that night. I least expected it, I experienced the worst headache ever, all I could hear was my heart beating much faster than it ever has. I cursed my stars that night, as my expectation for the night was so much greater, but it ended in a far different way that made my heart choke with tears of losing you._

_Let's please give it a try. This time I am begging for your forgiveness in front of the world. I promise I will make it up to you. I promise I will make the sun shine for us. So please take me back in your life._

_For now, I know sorry is just a word, but for what it's worth I am very sorry for hurting you that night. I was really confused about everything, but I'm not anymore. I know I want you. I want things to be stable again and you get all the time you need to make your decision. I love you so much and never will I think that I can forget you. I remain yours ..._

_Dana._

Alice's vision was clouded with unshed tears when she was reading the letter. By the time she finished reading, tears were streaming down her face. Dana was really going to say all this infront of all the people in The Planet? Alice felt even worse now.

Alice knew, like the week before, she wouldn't be able to get much sleep, she was worried sick about Dana. Her glance kept going over to the letter on the table, so she had just gotten up to read it.

She wished she hadn't though, cause now she was missing Dana even more. She was even more worried that she would never see her again. Alice started to think back about the time she was still togheter with Dana. A time when they were still happy.

"There ya go." Shane said as she put the drink down.

"Thanks, Shane." Carmen and Helena replied.

They all had gone to The Planet to try and think about something else that night besides Dana missing. All of them desperately needed to set their minds to something else for a bit. And Helena also wanted to check out the place at night. She had been there a few times with Shane when they went to see Carmen at work but never saw the place as an actual club before.

"This is quite a metamorphose…if I didn't know better, I wouldn't off guessed this was just a café during the day." Helena said, looking over at the dancefloor that was filled with people.

"I'm just glad I don't have to work now." Carmen said.

"You and me both." Shane replied, looking at Carmen.

"Awww, that's so sweet." Helena said as she watched as Shane sat down next to Carmen. She smiled as Shane pulled Carmen close. She was happy her friend finally made the step to be in a steady relationship.

"So, when are we going to meet Dylan?" Shane asked ignoring Helena's comment.

"She's not sure yet when she's going to be home." Helena replied. "Soon though, I really miss her."

"How long have you been togheter?"

"Seven months." Helena said with pride. "I'm so happy to have her."

"I know the feeling." Shane said, glancing at Carmen. Carmen smiled at her and gave a kiss on the lips.

"Me too." Carmen said. "Love you." She wispered.

Helena smiled as she watched the moment between the two lovers. She discreetly looked away as Shane and Carmen kissed again, letting them have their moment.

"Shame Alice didn't want to come with us." Carmen said.

"I know, I mean she says she hates and doesn't care about Dana anymore but…" Shane started.

"Alice misses Dana." Helena cut in.

"I think so too." Shane said.

"She kept the letter Dana gave her."

"Really? I thought she threw it away?"

Helena shook her head. "I saw it, I know she still has it."

"I knew she still cared." Shane said.

"Yeah, she tries to hide it but trust me, I know she even still loves Dana."

"Guys, can we please talk about something else." Carmen asked.

Shane looked at Carmen. "Sorry baby." She saw the look on her girlfriends face. She pulled Carmen closer to comfort her.

"Yeah, sorry Carmen, I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay, I just don't want to think about this right now." Carmen said.

Shane and Helena nodded their heads. They were silent for a moment, not sure what to say next. Shane listened as the music changed into a slow song. She looked at Carmen again. "Would you like to dance?" Shane asked.

Carmen looked up at Shane. "A slow? Really?" Shane usually didn't like slow dances.

Shane nodded. "I want to dance with my girl." She said, holding out her hand for Carmen to take.

"Okay." Carmen said as she took Shane's hand and got up.

"We'll be right back." Shane said to Helena who nodded.

Shane led Carmen to the dancefloor and put her hands around Carmen's waist to pull her close as they started swaying to the music. Carmen put her arms around Shane's shoulders and put their heads together. Both staring into each others eyes as they danced. Carmen was the first to break the stare as she leaned in and kissed Shane.

"_This is nice."_

"_I know, we should do this more." Alice said, as she put her arms around Dana's waist, holding her close. Dana laid up against Alice as both of them watched the sun set. They had gone to a deserted part of the beach and were now sitting against a rock watching the waves and the sunset._

"_I could do this forever, just sitting here." Dana replied, putting her hands over Alice's arms. She moved her head to look up to Alice. _

"_What?" Alice asked._

"_Nothing…" Dana said as she kept looking at Alice. "I love you."_

_Alice smiled. "I love you, too." __She said as she leaned in and kissed Dana. Dana put her hand up behind Alice's neck to move her closer as they deepened the kiss. They broke away but stayed close, they foreheads touching as both of them softly placed kissed on the other's lips._

"_I think I'll make this my new safe place." Dana said, turning back to watch the ocean, her head on Alice shoulder._

_Alice looked at Dana. "You're what?"_

"_You know, a safe place…like a place you go when it all gets too much, a hidding place where you can totally relax and forget about everything."_

"_Oh right." Alice said. __"The beach can get kinda cold though, you might wanna take a sweater with you when you want to come to your safe place."_

_Dana laughed. "That's not what I meant, the beach ain't my safe place." She said, looking up at Alice again._

"_Then what is?" Alice said, looking confused now._

"_Your arms." She replied softly, looking into Alice's eyes._

_Alice didn't say anything but just leaned in and kissed Dana again. "I think that's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me." Alice smiled. "Well, besides my wonderful arms to hide in…what other place would you go to?"_

"_You first." Dana said._

"_I don't know…don't think I really have one." Alice said, thinking about it. "Well, back home, there is like a small park near where we lived, noone hardly goes there anymore but it has a pound and it's quite nice, I like to go there when I want to clear my head." Alice said, thinking about the place. "Or there is this small café in our town…the owner, Radolpho, always knows what to say to me when I'm down. He's such a nice man."_

" _A nice man, huh?"_

_Alice laughed. "Not like that. Rodolpho is like 65 years old, he's just really sweet." She said. "Okay, so now you."_

"_Camp." Dana said. __"I used to hide out at tennis camp all the time."_

"_Really?" Alice asked, not really expecting a thing like camp to be a safe place._

_Dana nodded. "Yeah, I would love to work at tennis camp, teaching people how to play…so when I was younger and feeling down, I went there. The owner would let me teach a small group of kids…."_

"_Sounds nice…so when you are down and want to hide from the world, I have to come and look for you at tennis camp?"_

"_Yep, that or I'll be in your arms." Dana smiled, giving Alice a peck on the lips as they continued to watch the sunset._

Alice shoot up straight in bed and jumped out. She quickly changed her clothes, put some in a bag and took her keys before running out the door.


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

"Excuse me, is there a person named Dana Fairbanks working here?"

"Are you a member here?"

"No…I just want to know if…"

"If you are not a member here I can not give out this information."

"Listen lady, I've been at every damn tennis camp I can find and I just want to know if Dana Fairbanks is working here or not!" Alice said annoyed. This was the fifth camp she'd been at and none have had heard of Dana Fairbanks.

"I'm sorry but I can't…" The snotty lady started.

"I don't care what you can or can not do, it's a easy question that only requirs a simple yes or no!" Alice snapped, starting to lose her temper.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave, miss."

Alice sighed. "Listen, I need to find this girl, okay. It's very important…please, just give me a break, okay?"

The lady softened when she noticed the look off despair on Alice's face. "I understand but these are the rules…"

Alice let her shoulders hang in despair. "Fine, thanks anyways." Alice said, walking away.

"You know, if you where a member here I could give you a possitive answer to your question." The lady said just when Alice was about to open the door to leave.

Alice turned back around, noticing the small smile on the lady's face. "You mean she's here?" Alice asked.

The lady nodded softly but didn't say anything. "I don't know, are you a member here?" She smiled.

"I am now." Alice said, throwing some money on the counter.

"Welcome to our camp, miss. I'm sure miss Fairbanks will have time to be your instructor." The lady smiled.

Alice grabbed the lady's hand and shook it. "Thank you, thank you very much."

"I didn't do anything." She smiled.

"You really did, I was beginning to give up hope." Alice smiled. "So…I'm a camp member, erm…does that mean I have to sleep in a tent?" Alice asked, not really sure if she wanted to do that.

The lady laughed. "It's not that kind off camp here, miss. We have rooms to sleep in but we also do have tents if you would like one, I …"

"No thanks, a room will be fine."

The lady handed Alice a key and give her the final instructions. Alice smiled and made her way into the building. She looked around, happy that she was going to be running in Dana here sooner or later but also anxious to see her. She made her way in her room and let herself fall on the bed. Knowing that Dana was safe, sleep finally came over her.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Alice phone woke her up. She groaned and rolled over to reach for her bag. "Hello?" She asked, still half asleep.

"Alice, where the hell are you? We woke up this moring and you weren't here."

"I'm fine, Shane."

"You scared the shit out of us, Al."

"You could off just called me like you did now." Alice said, turning back over to lay on her pillow.

"I tried like ten times before, Al."

"Really? I didn't hear anything." Alice said. "I must have been more tired then I thought."

"Are you okay? Where are you?"

"I'm fine, Shane." Alice said. "I discovered were Dana is."

"What? How? Where?"

"Just tell Carmen not to worry about Dana anymore, I'll bring her back, okay?

"Al, she's going to want to know where Dana is." Shane said.

Alice heard Carmen in the background once Shane said Dana's name. _Alice found Dana_. She heard Shane say to Carmen. There was some muffling going on and Alice couldn't figure out what was going on.

"Alice, it's Carmen. Where are you?" Carmen's voice sounded.

Alice sighed. "I'm at tennis camp." Alice started. "I remembered that Dana once told me this would be were she would hide if something bad happened to her."

"How is she?"

"I haven't seen her yet."

"Okay, where are you? We are coming over there." Carmen said.

Alice gave Carmen the instructions on how to get to were she was staying now. She also asked that they would call her first when they got there so she could fill them in on what was going on. She hoped that she would see Dana soon so she ended the phone call to get dressed.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Hi again."

"Hey." Alice said as she noticed the same lady she met at the reception last night.

"Have you seen your friend yet, miss?"

"It's Alice." Alice started. "And no, haven't seen her yet." Alice sighed. "Any idea on where I could find her?"

"Well, around this time she's getting ready to start her first session."

"Great, maybe I can already go join then?"

"I don't think so." The lady anwsered.

"Why not."

"Her first session of today is with kids."

"Oh, well where will she be?" Alice asked, if she couldn't join yet she might as well go see Dana.

"You might want to stop by the A block tracks."

"Thank you, erm…?" Alice said, getting up.

"Lisa." The lady anwsered.

"Well, thank you for your help, Lisa."

Lisa nodded and walked off to talk to a few of other members. Alice walked out of the hall and onto the premises. She was looking around when she finally spotted Dana. Dana was talking to the kids and was laughing. She was showing a girl how to swing correctly.

"_She looks happy_." Alice thought as she went to stand behind a bush to prevent her from being seen by Dana. She listened to the conversation happening infront off her.

"I'll never be able to do this, Dana."

"Yes, you will, Becky." Dana said, crouching down infront of the girl. "You are doing fine as you are…we'll just work on your swing some more, okay?"

"Okay." The girl sighed.

"Okay, so watch me." Dana said as she showed the girl the right way to swing. "Now you try." Dana said, standing behind the girl to show her the right position. The girl swung her tennis racket again the ball which went flying down the tracks.

"I did it!" The girl smiled, jumping around. "I did it, Dana. Did you see it?"

"I did." Dana nodded. "Told you you could do it." Dana smiled at the girl.

"Thank you, Dana." The girl said, giving Dana a hug.

"You did it all on your own, hunni." Dana said. "No go on, go play a match against Kenny." Dana said, sending the girl off to play. Dana smiled as she watched the bunch of kids play and started to walk over to her bag.

Alice noticed Dana coming over and saw the bag as well. She started to back away when she fell over a small wall between two bushes and landed in between them. Dana heard the loud thud and walked over.

"Hello?" Dana asked, looking around when she noticed someone. "What are you doing in…?" She asked as she walked around the bush.

Alice quickly stood up and turned around to face Dana. Dana gasped when she noticed it was Alice standing there. Both of them stood still and just watched each other.

"Alice?" Dana finally said.

"Hi Dane."

Dana didn't know what to say, she just starred at Alice until she noticed she was hurt. "Oh my god, are you okay?" She asked, noticing Alice's hand was bleeding.

Alice looked at her hand and noticed the cut. "I'm fine." She said.

"No, you are not." Dana said, walking over to Alice and taking her hand. "Come on, let's clean this wound." She said, leading Alice over to her bag. "Sit down." She told Alice who did what she was told to do.

Dana pulled some things out of her bag and cleaned the cut on Alice's hand. "How did you find me, Alice?" She asked without looking up from her task.

"This is your safe place." Alice wispered.

Dana looked up, still holding Alice's hand. She remembered how she once told Alice about this. Remembered the time they spend at the beach that day. She looked back down and put a bandaid on Alice's hand. "There ya go, all set." Dana said, changing the subject.

"Thank you." Alice said, her voice still silent.

"You might wanna stay clear from the bushes next time." Dana said.

"I will." Alice nodded. "Do you always have a first aid kid with you?" Alice asked when she saw Dana putting her stuff back into her bag.

"When you work with a lot of kids, you need one." Dana said.

"You're a great teacher." Alice commented.

Dana smiled. "How do you know that, Al?"

"I saw you teaching that girl how to swing." Alice said.

"Becky? She already was good. She just needed a little boost of confidence to get her on track." Dana said. "So, you were watching me?"

"Erm…I was…I wanted to…" Alice stuttered out.

"It's okay, Alice." Dana started. "You don't need to explain anything to me."

Both went back to starring at one another. "Dana, can we talk?" Alice finally asked.

Dana shook her head. "I can't. I still have classes to give."

"After that then?"

Dana hesitated. "Sure, meet me at the central hall in two hours, okay?"

"Is that the main building?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, I'll pick you up there so we can go to my place." Dana responded.

Alice smiled. "Cool. Okay, I'll be there." She said, getting up with Dana. Alice wanted to say something else to but Dana was being called by a few kids.

"I have to go, Al." Dana said, turning around and running back to her group.

Alice watched Dana for a moment longer before turning around and moving back to her room.


	29. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

"What going on?" Helena asked when she saw Carmen packing frantically.

"Alice found Dana." Shane said, catching an already packed bag flying her way. "Carmen, relax." Shane said. "Carmen wants to go to her right away." Shane said, turning back to Helena.

"Is Dana alright?"

"Yeah, she's at some tennis camp." Shane said. "You coming with us?"

"Well…Dylan was going to come over…she came back home and I wanted you guys to meet her." Helena said. "But I guess I'll just go home to meet her."

"Oh, I'm sorry Hel." Shane said. "I don't think Carmen is going to want to stay here much longer." Shane said, watching her girlfriend running around grabbing all kinds of stuff along her way. "Hey, how about you let her come over here and you can come and meet us there?" Shane asked.

Helena thought about it. "I…" She hesitated.

"Come on, Helena. It will be fun and you can see Dana again then."

"Okay, I'll call Dylan." Helena said." You might wanna check on your girl though before she collapses from lack of air."

Shane turned around and walked over to Carmen. "Baby, baby, relax."

"Where is that black bag, I can't find it anywhere." Carmen said, ignoring Shane's request.

"Carmen..."

"Maybe it is in your room." Carmen said, moving toward the room.

Shane grabbed her by the waist to stop her. "Okay, stop." Shane said, using her other hand to rub Carmen's arm.

"But I have to…"

"And you can when you have calmed down." Shane replied. "Baby, Dana is fine and Alice is with her so…"

"So? I think Alice was the reason Dana left in the first place…" Carmen said. "What if Dana sees Alice and runs away again?" She asked turing around to face Shane.

"Al won't let that happen."

"How can you know that?"

"I just know, okay?" Shane said. "Alice won't let Dana go a second time." Shane bent a little so she was face to face with Carmen, putting her hands on her waist. "Okay?" She asked again.

Carmen gave in. "Okay, you are right…I'm just so worried." She said.

"Good girl." Shane smiled, giving Carmen a peck on the lips, pulling her closer. Shane ran her hands up and down Carmen's back to soothe her.

Carmen smiled back and let Shane pull her closer for a while. "Now, help me find that bag." Carmen said, pushing Shane away and running in the bedroom.

Shane sighed. "So much for relaxing."

"Hey, you been waiting long?"

Alice looked up to see Dana coming over. "Nah, just got here a few minutes ago." Alice said, standing up to walk to Dana. Neither knew what to say and just staired at one another.

Dana broke out of the stare first. "My cabin is over there." Dana pointed.

Alice followed Dana's gaze to the cabins. "Okay." Was al she replied. Both of them were uncomfortable and nervous. Dana nodded and just started walking.

"Want something to drink?" Dana asked once they entered her cabin.

Alice shook her head. "No thanks, I'm good." Alice said, looking around. "Nice place." She said.

"Thanks…so you wanted to talk?" Dana asked while motioning for Alice to sit down.

"Yeah, well…I…we…" Alice stuttered.

"Just ask what you want to ask, Al." Dana softly said with a small smile.

"Right. How have you been?"

"Good, I like it here." Dana replied. "I'm doing what I've always wanted to do."

"Yeah, I remember." Alice wispered. "What happened, Dana?"

Dana knew what Alice meant by that. "After you…when we…after that night I knew I couldn't stay any longer. I called my mom and asked her if I could come home for a few months."

"You were going to leave for months without calling?" Alice asked. "Call Carmen I mean." She asked when she saw Dana frown.

"No, I was going to but, my mom ain't easy to be around with, Alice." Dana explained. "I was heartbroken and for once, just once, I wanted my mom to be there for me. I needed her to be…well my mom!" Dana said. "After the first day I got there she told me she was glad I was there…that she missed having me around and I was happy to hear her say that."

"Dana, I …" Alice started.

Dana put her hand up. "Please, let me finish." Dana asked. "Anyways, mom asked me to go out with her in the afternoon. She thought I could use the distraction." Dana bitterly said, thinking back at the moment. "When I was ready to leave and went downstairs I saw her with one of her friends…and her son."

"What?" Alice asked. "Was she…?"

Dana nodded. "Yeah, she thought it would be nice if me and Andrew started going out, you know, so I would see that I'm not gay afterall." Dana said, now slightly angry.

"She wanted to set you up with _a guy_?"

"Yes…there I was heartbroken and miserable…why couldn't she just be a normal mom and take care of me?" Dana asked, not really expecting an anwser. "And then I wondered…why can't she still not accept that I'm gay?"

"She may not accept it but that's no reason to force a guy on you, Dana!" Alice replied. "She should just get over herself."

"I wished I would have gotten over myself sooner as well." Dana softly said. "I lost you because of it." She said looking at Alice. "So I told myself that I would never let that happen again." Dana said, looking at Alice. "I screamed out to my mom that I am gay and she should just get over it already. I went to pack my stuff and left there without saying another word to her."

Alice was surprised at hearing that. She noticed that Dana was more open now, not afraid to talk about the fact that she is gay. Or maybe it was because there wasn't anyone around beside her? Dana was different now, she seemed more at peace with herself, more relaxed.

"So you came here?" Alice asked.

"I didn't know what to do at first but then I remembered where I would feel better."

"At your safe place." Alice anwsered.

"Right…my safe place." Dana smiled, falling in silence before suddenly looking up when she thought of something. "How did you know I was here?"

"I remembered you telling me…" Alice started.

Dana shook her head. "No, no, I mean. I told Carmen I was going home."

"Oh, do you remember Helena Peabody?"

Dana looked confused. "Helena?" She asked. "Yeah, I knew her when I was younger, our mothers knew each other…what does she have to do with this?"

"Helena is a friend of Shane and I." Alice explained. "She came to visit us and then we found out that you were missing because Helena's mom called and told her."

"Wow, small world." Dana laughed.

"Yeah…"

"How's Carmen?"

"Worried sick…we called you loads of times and never anwsered. She thought something really bad had happened to you."

"I'm sorry…I asumed she still thought I was at my parent's home." Dana said, feeling bad. "I didn't know…I just needed time for myself."

"She's coming over." Alice said.

Dana nodded. "I thought she would." She said. "And Shane?"

"Her too." Alice replied. "They are happy."

"That's good."

"Shane, what are you doing?" Carmen said, looking at Shane. "We aren't there yet." She noticed that Shane was pulling into a parking lot.

"I know." Shane said, stepping out of her car. "Get out." She ordered.

Carmen did what she was told and waited for Shane to come around to meet her. "Why did we stop?" She asked. "Are you tired? Do you want me to take over?" Carmen said, already making her way to the other side of the car when Shane grabbed her by her wrist.

"Carm, I'm promised Al to give her some time first so just r..." Shane once again said.

"I can't, Shane." Carmen replied. "Not until I have seen her myself."

"Baby, you'll see her real soon, but now, you and me are both going to loosen up."

"But Dana…"

"…is fine." Shane finished. "I just want to give Al a chance to have a good talk with her first."

Carmen wanted to protest but then changed her mind when she saw the look on Shane's face. "Okay, fine." She said. "Four hours max! Not a minute longer!"

Shane smiled "Deal!" She said, pulling Carmen closer. She leaned in and gave Carmen a kiss, letting her lips linger for a few moments.

"What was that for?" Carmen smiled when Shane broke the kiss.

"That was my way to seal the deal." Shane grinned.

Carmen grinned back. "Oh yeah?" She said before pushing Shane against her car, grabbing her neck and kissing her fervently. She leaned her whole body against Shane's who put her arms around Carmen, kissing her back and running her hands down Carmen's ass.

"Wow, your way is SO much better." Shane breathed out, her hands still on Carmen's ass. Shane's face became serious as she was staring at Carmen.

"What?" Carmen asked, noticing the look on Shane's face. "What's wrong?" She asked, putting her hand on Shane's cheek.

"Nothing's wrong, baby." Shane said, snapping out of her stare. She leaned into Carmen's touch and smiled.

"Then what's with the look?"

Shane smiled again. "I was just wondering where you had been all my life." Shane wispered.

Carmen smiled widely. "Somewhere you hadn't looked before?"

Shane laughed. "I'm glad I looked."

"I'm glad too." Carmen replied. "Thanks for looking my way."

"My pleasure." Shane said giving Carmen another kiss and giving her a hug. "You had me the moment I saw you." She wispered in Carmen's ear.

Carmen broke the hug. "Really?" She asked unconvinced, raising her eyebrows.

Shane nodded shyly. "Yeah. I couldn't get you out my head and _believe_ me I tried, I tried so hard but no matter what you where all I could think off."

Carmen smiled, her eyes watering lightly. "You are so sweet." She said, once more kissing Shane. She took her hand and they started walking.

"Walk on the beach?" Shane asked, there arms swinging slightly as they walked.

"Yes…" Carmen nodded. "Walking would be best because what I had in mind isn't allowed with all those people here." Carmen smirked.

Shane jerked her head to look at Carmen's who ran off laughing. "Tease!" Shane yelled before sprinting after her. Without any efford, Shane caught up with Carmen, picked her up. Carmen tried to break free but it ended with both of them falling on the sand, laughing.

"You are _so_ going to pay for that later." Shane said, pinning Carmen's arm over her head so she couldn't get away.

"Gladly." She said. She leanded up. "You can even make me pay multiple times." She wispered in Shane's ear.

Shane swallowed. "You better stop before I take you right here." Shane laughed.

"Okay, okay." Carmen said. "I'll be good…for now."

Shane shook her head before pulling Carmen close and laying her head on her shoulder. Both of them laying comfortable on the sand. The soft breeze passing them as they enjoyed the nice weather and each other.

"Dana, I want to…"

"Yo sexy, where are you hiding fr…" Someone yelled coming in before stopping when she saw that Dana wasn't alone. "Oh…sorry."

"Thanks for knocking, Denbo." Dana said, rolling her eyes and slightly embarred by the way she had came in. "Alice, this is my rude friend Dawn." Dana said. "D, this is Alice."

"Alice?" Dawn asked, blinking her eyes." That's…that's Alice?" She asked Dana, her eyes nearly popping out of her head. She looked from Alice back to Dana. "Are you alright?" She asked.

Dana nodded. "I'm fine, Dawn." Dana reassured her friend. "What's up?"

"Well I waited for you at the gate but you didn't show up so…you forgot?"

"Huh?" Dana asked.

"We where going to go out, remember?" Dawn asked. "You know, our big date." She said, glaring at Alice.

"Oh!" Dana said. "Sorry, sorry, sorry. I didn't forget, I swear." Dana said, looking at Alice and back at Dawn, not feeling comfortable having Alice there at the moment.

"Sure you didn't…" Dawn said, noticing that Dana looked uncomfortable. "Look, we can go some other time?" She offered, trying to hide her dissapointment.

Alice stood up now. "It's okay, I was about to go anyways…"

"You're leaving?" Dana immediately asked.

Yeah, well no…I, I have my first lesson this afternoon."

"You're taking lessons?"

Alice nodded. "It was the only way to get in here."

Dana stayed quiet for a moment. "You ordered lessons from …me?" Dana realised. "Alice, I changed my shift today."

"No problem." Alice smiled. "You go out with your _friend_. She said, looking at Dawn, while passing her on her way out. "It was nice meeting you, Dawn." Alice said. "Have fun." She said.

Dawn nodded. "Nice meeting you too and we will." Dawn smiled.

Alice forced a smile, looked back at Dana and before walking out.

.

.

.

.

**TBC**


	30. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

"Where's Dana?" Carmen asked as they arrived, pulling Shane along with her to the front gate.

Shane had called Alice from the road to inform her that they where nearly arriving. They agreed to meet at the front gate.

"Hello to you too, Carmen." Alice said rolling her eyes. "She's not here." Alice finished. "Hi, Shane." She said to her best friend who smiled at her and nodded.

"What?" Carmen yelled. "But I thought you said you found her and…"

"And I did, she just went out with… _a friend."_ Alice said muttering the last word. Carmen however didn't seem to notice.

"When will she be back?"

"I don't know." Alice replied.

"Well, when did she leave?"

"A few hour ago…I really don't know much Carmen." Alice said softly, looking down when she said this.

"Are you okay, Al?" Shane said seeing that her friend was upset.

"Yeah…I'm alright."

Shane raised her eyebrows at Alice before turning to Carmen. "Baby, maybe we should check in the hotel down the road. Would you mind going there to see if they still have rooms available."

Carmen looked from Shane to Alice and back, finally noticing how miserable Alice looked. She softly smiled at Shane and nodded. "Sure, I'll go check, I'll call you in a few." Carmen gave Shane a small kiss before leaving the two of them alone to talk.

Shane watched Carmen walk away and put her arm around Alice's shoulder. "Alright, out with it, what's wrong?"

Alice sighed. "I told you, nothing's wrong."

"Sure it isn't, that why you just look so damn happy right now." Shane said rolling her eyes at her friend.

"I think she's seeing someone else, Shane." Alice mumbled.

"Dana? Why do you think that? That friend she's out with now?" Shane said motioning for Alice to go sit down on one of the benches near the gate.

"Yeah, she's out on a date with her, Shane." Alice replied miserably.

"Are you sure it's a date, Al?" Shane asked. "I find that hard to believe, I mean, out on a date…with a girl?"

" I guess with this girl, she doesn't care who sees her." Alice said as she stood up again and began to walk away, Shane quickly following her.

"I'm sure they are just friends, Dana cares about you."

"Maybe it was a bad idea to come here, maybe she moved on."

Shane put her hand on her friend's shoulder to make her turn. "Okay, stop." Shane said, firmly grasping Alice's shoulders. "Just talk to Dana about this before you start feeling miserable, okay?"

"But…"

"No buts, Al." Shane said. "You and Dana need to work this out, it's why you came here, right?"

"Yes, I miss her so much, Shane." Alice said, tears forming in her eyes. "What if I'm too late."

Shane shook her head. "I'm sure that girl she's out with is just a friend. Dana loves you, Alice, more then you know. I talked to her a lot when we where setting things up for … well before she left." Shane said, opting not to talk about that night when she saw Alice cringe at the thought.

"Did she really mean all those things she said in that letter?" Alice sobbed as Shane pulled her into a hug. "Was she really going to say all those thing on stage?"

"That's what we planned, I'm sure she would have done it."

Alice pulled away. "I messed it all up. Maybe if I let her go on with it…we…"

"You were upset Alice, she broke your heart." Shane reasoned. "And, you are one stuborn bitch when you're upset." Shane joked trying to get her best friend to smile again.

Alice chuckled. "Gee, thanks Shane."

"Just telling you the truth, my friend." Shane laughed, patting Alice's shoulder." But, seriously Al, just talk to Dana, things will work out."

"I hope so."

"I _know_ so." Shane said. "Now, let's go find my girl, she's taking way to long." Shane said with a grin.

xoxoxoxoxoxox

"So, you're taking tennis lessons now?" Carmen asked Alice as they were sitting at the outside café on the premises of the camp.

Alice nodded. "Yeah, it was the only way to get in."

"Couldn't you just booked at the hotel like we did?" Shane asked. "Cause we both know you suck at sports."

"It was the only way to see Dana, Shane!" Alice snapped. "I wouldn't have known she was here otherwise." Alice said, thinking back at the day she arrived. "And it's not like you're going to win the olympics any time soon either."

Shane put her hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay sorry. But I…"

"DANA!" Carmen yelled jumping from her seat.

Dana saw her, smiled broadly and ran towards there table as well. "Hello Carmen."

"I'm so happy to see you, Dane". Carmen pulled Dana in a tight hug. "Are you alright?" She asked pulling back to look at Dana.

Dana nodded. "Yes, I'm fine, Carmen."

"Okay, that's good." Carmen said, she looked at Dana and slapped her arm hard. "Don't ever pull something like this ever again, you hear? I was worried sick about you!"

Dana rubbed her arm. "I'm sorry, Carmen, really. I thought you assumed I was staying at my parent's house. I didn't know you knew I wasn't there anymore."

"Yeah well, I did know…I'm glad you are okay, Dane." Carmen said, pulling Dana back into her arms. "Just don't ever do it again, okay?"

"I promise, Carm." Dana said. "I'm not running away again, from anything." She said, looking at Alice from over Carmen's shoulder.

"Come, sit with us." Carmen said, pulling Dana over to the table.

"Hi Dana, it's good to see you." Shane said, smiling warmly at Dana. "Want to drink something?"

Dana hesitated and looked at Alice. "I don't know, Shane."

"Dana, I haven't seen you in weeks! You'd better sit with us." Carmen complained.

Dana nodded but looked over at Alice again. Like she needed her aproval to sit down. She didn't want to make Alice uncomfortable and if Alice didn't want her there, she would leave and respect that.

"I'd listen to her if I where you." Alice finally said.

"Okay." Dana said, taking a seat next to Carmen and Alice, she ordered a drink and smiled. "I'm happy to see you two here together." Looking at Carmen and Shane, who smiled at each other.

Carmen put her hand on Shane's knee. "Yeah, we worked things out."

Dana nodded. "I knew you would., I'm happy for you guys." She said, smiling as the waitress brought her drink. "Thanks, Amy." She said to the girl who smiled back and walked away. "Are you also staying here at camp?"

"No, we were smart enough to book a room in the hotel down the street." Shane smirked when Alice shot a glare in her direction.

"Shut it, Shane." Alice warned. "I like camps alright so zip it."

Shane snorted. "You like camps? Since when?" She teased.

"Since forever, alright!"

"Well, I'm glad you are staying on camp, Alice." Dana said, ending Shane's teasing.

Alice shot her head at Dana. "You are?" Alice asked softly.

Dana nodded. "Yes, I am. This café doesn't open till 2pm so noone from outside camp is allowed on here then. We can see each other during lessons and maybe before …if you would want that?"

"Maybe." Alice smiled.

"Wait! You mean we can't be here till the afternoon?" Carmen asked.

"That's right, I'm not even sure if you can be here at night." Dana replied.

Carmen slapped Shane's arm now. "Shane, why did we have to book in that damn hotel!"

"You wanted to go there as well, Carmen. Don't blame it all on me!" Shane defended and now glared at Alice like she did earlier.

"Who's the smart one now, huh Shane?" Alice laughed but Shane just ignored her and looked back at Carmen.

"Shaannne" Carmen whined. "We have to sign up for camp so I can see Dana."

"It's only till the afternoon, Carm."

"That's too long! I haven't seen her in weeks, we have to catch up!" Carmen reasoned. "Dana, help me out here." She said, looking at her friend for help.

"Most of my classes are in the morning, Carm." Dana replied. "I won't have much time to…"

"Then I'll take lessons!" Carmen said. "Come on, Shane. Let's check out of that hotel." Carmen said, already out of her seat. "See you in a bit you two's." She said, walking away.

"Baby, wait! Let's talk about this first." Shane said, shooting out of her seat and chasing Carmen.

Dana and Alice looked at each other, not really knowing what to say now they where left alone all of sudden.

"So…you ready for your lesson tomorrow?

"I survived today's session so I should be fine."

"Wasn't today your introduction lesson? You only had to introduce yourself to the others and look around a bit, right?" Dana asked.

"Yeah, I was kinda hoping that was it." Alice said.

Dana laughed. "Afraid not, Alice." Dana said. "But, I'll go easy on you." She said.

Alice gulped. "Erm…Thanks." She blushed. "So, did you have fun with your _friend_?"

"She's just a friend, Al." Dana said, noticing Alice's sour face. "Nothing more."

"You seem close to her."

"We are close yes, she's been a good friend." Dana said. "She's easy to talk too."

"That's nice." Alice smiled, glad to hear that Shane was right and that Dawn person was only a friend. Or did Dana only say that because she didn't want her to know she was seeing someone else? "It's getting late, I'm going to go to my room."

Dana's face fell. "Oh, okay. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, tomorrow." Alice agreed.

"Maybe we can meet up for breakfast? Our session is pretty much after that anyways." Dana suggested. "We erm…could go together?"

Alice hesistated. "I…I think I'll just meet you at the track." She said.

Dana nodded in dissapointment. "Okay, I'll see you then." She said with a sad smile.

"Maybe we could meet an hour before class? So you can show me some basics?" Alice asked. "I don't want to make a complete fool out of myself."

Dana's face lit up. "Alright! I'll be there at 9!"

Alice nodded. "Okay…" She said, starring at Dana. "Erm…see you tomorrow."

"Yes, goodnight Alice."

" 'Night, Dane."

Dana smiled as she watched Alice walk away. At least Alice and her were talking again, she was happy that Alice still wanted to talk with her and continue the lessons even though she didn't really have to. "Better not mess it up this time." She mutterted to herself. "_Now, let's check on Carmen and Shane._" She thought to herself as she left.

.

.

.

TBC


	31. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

"Good morning Al, you been waiting long?" Dana said as she jogged upto where Alice was sitting.

"Hey, no, not that long." Alice replied, she watched Dana put her stuff down on the bench next to her and took off her jacket leaving her only in her top.

"I was going to get here a little earlier but I got held up at breakfast, so let me grab our things real quick." Dana said, running around grabbing the things she would need for her class.

Alice got up to help her. "How many classes do you have?" Alice said as she took a bunch of rackets out of Dana's hand.

"Hmm, I have 2 classes each morning" Dana said, putting up the net. "And sometimes I help out with other things to do."

"So, you like it then?"

"Yes, very much. Especially since I can teach in all age catogories."

"I could tell you liked it when I saw you with that little girl the other day."

"Well you know that tennis was and still is a passion of mine."Dana replied, putting the ball machine on it's right place. "Alright, that's all set."

"Okay, will we be using that ball machine?" Alice said warily.

Dana laughed. "Eventually, but I'm taking you aren't a fan of them?"

Alice shrugged. "I haven't really played much, I just don't want to get hit in the face or anything."

"You do know that the racket is to hit the ball with, right?" Dana joked. "Or you could just keep it in front of your face to prevent from getting hit."

"Haha, very funny." Alice said. "Are you this mean to all your students?"

"Nope, just the ones I really like." Dana said, looking Alice in the eyes.

Alice gulped. "I erm…can we start?." She said, trying not to blush.

"Sure, let's see what you've got." Dana replied picking up a ball. "Okay, let's just try this, I'll save the ball machine for later and will just throw the ball for you to hit, okay?."

"I'm ready." Alice said nodding. She picked up her racket again as she waited for Dana to run to the other side. She concentrated as Dana got ready and threw her the ball. She swung her racket to the other side barely hitting the ball.

Dana came over to Alice to pick the ball back up. "Okay, that wasn't bad but…"

"But what?"

"This isn't golf, Alice." Dana said.

"Yes, I know that."

"You moved your body like you were playing golf." Dana said. "You went like this." showing Alice what she did.

"I did hit it, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did." Dana said. "I just don't want you to get hit in the face which will happen if you move like that."

"Can we try again?"

"Sure." Dana replied. "Just don't do that leg thing again." Dana laughed. She ran across again and threw the ball at Alice again. Alice hit is this time and it flew straight at Dana, hitting her on her knee. "Oww, Alice!" She yelled as she went to sit down.

Alice dropped her racket and ran over to Dana. "I'm so sorry, Dana." Alice said, sitting on her knees, quickly rubbing Dana's hurt knee. "Are you okay?"

"Wow, you're not good at taking criticism, are you?" Dana laughed.

"I didn't do this on purpose!" Alice said

"I know, Al." Dana replied, looking at Alice's hand that was still on her knee. "I was just kidding."

"Maybe I shouldn't be allowed to play sports."

"Your hit was fine Alice, maybe just a bit higher and away from hitting me next time." Dana laughed looking at Alice who looked guilty. "I'm fine now, Al."

Alice nodded and got up. She put her hand out for Dana to take and pulled her up. Dana bend her knee a few time still holding onto Alice hand to keep her balance. When she was finished neither of them let go of the other.

"Dana, I …" Alice started but was interupted when someone came running on the track.

"There you are, Dana!"

Dana and Alice quickly let go of each other and went to stand a bit further away from each other.

"Hi Dawn, here I am, yes." Dana said.

"I looked for you everywhere." Dawn said, running upto Dana to pull her in a hug.

"Well, you found me." Dana said, quickly breaking the hug while glancing over to where Alice stood. Her face unreadable. Dawn looked over to Alice as well and before turning back to Dana.

"You giving private lessons now, Dane?"

"No." Dana said. "Well, Alice wanted me to show her some basics." Dana said motioning to Alice. "It's her first lesson today."

"Wasn't her first lesson yesterday?" Dawn asked. "When we where out?"

Dana glared at Dawn. "You know those are just introduction lessons, Dawn." Dana hissed, looking at Alice who caught her eye.

"Sure, I know." Dawn shrugged.

"Why did you need me?" Dana said, quickly changing the subject before Dawn could go on.

"I need your help with something for the show."

"Can't it wait?" Dana said. "I have class in a few anyways and Alice and I where still practicing."

"It's okay, Dana." Alice replied. "I'll come back when the class actually starts."

"But Al, we…"

"No, It's fine, really." Alice said. "Work comes first, right?" she said walking over to grab her bag. "I'll just go call Shane to see how they are doing." Alice walked passed them. "Nice seeing you again." Alice mumbled.

"You too." Dawn replied happily.

"You did good, Al!" Dana yelled as Alice walked off the track. "Did you have to be this rude?"

"What?" Dawn asked. "I wasn't being rude!"

"You were rude, Dawn. You basicly forced Alice to leave."

"Hey, I didn't ask her to leave alright." Dawn defended. "And what's with the private tutoring, hasn't she hurt you enough already?" Dawn asked.

"I hurt her, Dawn. Not the other way around."

"You told me what happened Dana. She was a real bitch to you."

"Because I hurt her!" Dana snapped. "Look, you don't understand alright."

"I understand real fine, Dana." Dawn said.

"Just drop it, okay!" Dana yelled in anger.

"I'm just looking out for you." Dawn said gently.

Dana face softened. "I know, I'm sorry." She sighed. "I just want to fix the wrongs I caused."

Dawn gritted her teeth. "Anyways…I really do need your help." Dawn said, changing the subject. She liked Dana very much and didn't want to talk about Alice. "We have a few gaps to fill on our show."

"And how can I help with that?"

"Well, you could help me get some ideas and…"

"And?"

"Maybe you could sing again?" Dawn finished.

"No way!" Dana said, shaking her head and walking away, Dawn quickly following her.

"Come on, Dana!" Dawn whined. "You already did it once."

"That's because you all ganged up on me and forced me!" Dana said. "You gave me no option and may I remind you that it was only my second week here!"

"I can't help it that word spread around that you could sing." Dawn smirked. "Kids can't keep anything a secret.

"Meaning yourself?"

Dawn snorted. "Funny…will you please just consider it then?"

"Fine." Dana grumbled. "I'm not promising anything, though!"

Dawn clapped her hands. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." She said pulling Dana into another hug before running away. "See you later, think about some other ideas!"

"Hey! I didn't say yes, Dawn!" Dana yelled. "Don't you dare fill in my name on the list! Dawn! … Dawn!" She yelled as she watched her friend run away.

Dana sighed and turned to prepare for her class. She pulled out the rackets and hung up the nets. While she was working she noticed Alice slipping back in and watched her as she sat down on one of the benches.

"I think your net is hanging a little to low there, Dana."

Dana spun around. "Carmen! What are you doing here?" Dana asked. "You're going to be in trouble when someone notices you aren't suppose to be here."

"No, I'm not." Carmen smiled. "We signed up." She smirked.

"How did you talk Shane into that one?"

"I have my ways." Carmen smirked.

Dana laughed. "Say no more." Dana looked around the field. "Where is Shane anyways?"

"She's right h…" Carmen started looking around when she noticed Shane wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Shane?" she called out. "Shane?" She said spotting her at the entrance. "Baby, come on in."

Shane came in slowly, looking around warily. "I'll get you for this, Carmen." She muttered. "I don't like sports." She said, coming to stand next to Carmen who put her arm trough hers.

"But baby, you look so cute in those shorts."

"And I don't like these shorts." Shane replied. "Dana, is it okay if I just watch, please?"

Dana shook her head. "Nope, I'm afraid you'll have to join."

Shane huffed. "Fine." She said. "Erm…why is the net hanging so low?"

They all looked over at the net and saw that it was practically hanging on the floor.

"I think it was because our Dana here was too busy checking out Alice." Carmen smirked.

"Al's here already?" Shane said, looking over to where her best friend where sitting. "Wow, I'm starting to believe she really does like camp."

"I think she likes the teacher of this particular class." Carmen replied.

Shane and Carmen both smirked. "So, Dana, where you checking her out?"

"Just put your stuff over there, alright." Dana said changing the subject. "Class will start in a few."

"Okay everyone, spread out and pick a teammate to play a few series of matches with." Dana shouted across the field. "Carmen, you want to play a game with me?" Dana asked noticing that Alice and Shane where already standing together. They had been almost the entire class. You could tell that they didn't really like playing tennis, at all.

Carmen smiled and ran over to Dana. "Sure." She said. "Go easy on me." She joked. "You think those two will be okay playing against each other? Carmen asked, looking over to her girlfriend and Alice.

Dana laughed. "They really don't like sports, do they?"

Carmen shook her head. "Don't think so but aren't they cute trying to do it?"

Dana sighed. "They are, yes." She said, watching Alice as she missed a ball that Shane had thrown at her.

Carmen put her hand on Dana's shoulder. "Cheer up, Dane. She'll be yours again in no time."

"I don't know, Carmen."

"She's here, isn't she?" Carmen said. "We all know she's here for you and not to play tennis."

Dana looked back over to Carmen. "Why don't we just play a game?"

Carmen nodded. "Sure, let's do it."

Carmen and Dana played a few games, Dana winning most of the time. Dana walked around the field a couple of times after that to give out hints and correct where needed. She was walking up to where Shane and Alice where playing.

"Alright everyone, let's switchs partners." Dana yelled. "Shane, you go play with Carmen."

"My pleasure." Shane said, running away.

"Tennis, Shane!" Dana yelled after Shane who was running towards Carmen. She heard her laughing as she pulled Carmen in her arms. She shook her head and focused her attention again on Alice who was looking around the courts. "You where doing it again, Alice."

"What?"

"Did you play golf when you where younger?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "Does it look like I have ever played any kind of sport?"

Dana laughed. "Come on, I'll show you how it's done." She said picking up Alice's racket. "Okay. Come stand before me." She told Alice.

Alice stepped closer to where Dana was standing. "Now what?" Alice wispered as she took another step closer.

"I…you…" Dana cleared her throat. "Turn around." Alice did as she was told and turned around. She put her hands on Alice arms. "Okay this is what you do." She said, taking another step closer so that Alice's back was against her front. She gave Alice the racket and placed her hands on top of Alice's. She swung the racket like Alice had did earlier.

"That's how you swing when you play golf, Alice." Dana said trying to block out the fact that she was standing to close to Alice. "And look at your foot?" she said, both of them looking down to see that Alice's foot was now turned and she was leaning on the tip off her toes.

Dana tapped Alice's leg. "You don't have to make that move, Al. Just relax your legs." The touch of Dana's hand on her leg made Alice jump away out of Dana's reach.

"Okay, got it." Alice said. "Relax my legs, check."

Dana smiled. "I don't think you do." Dana said, walking back closer to Alice. "Come on, let's try to do it right now, okay?"

Dana stepped back up against Alice and repeated the same movement. She placed her hands back on top of Alice's and made her swing the right way. "You see?"

Alice turned her head around to look at Dana. The two of the still standing the same way, with Alice pressed into Dana. "Yes, thank you." She said, looking at Dana. The two of them staring at each other.

"Miss Fairbanks?" Someone called in the distance but Dana didn't hear it. She just gripped Alice's hands harder, ignoring everyone and everything around her.

"Someone's calling for you." Alice said softly, trying to move away.

"What?" Dana asked, she looked down at their hands and finally snapped out of it. "Oh, I … okay." She said, moving away. "I should go over there, right?"

"Right." Alice replied. She watched Dana walk away. "Hey Dane?"

Dana spun around. "Yes?"

"Thank you."

Dana smiled. "You're welcome, Al."

.

.

.

.

TBC


	32. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

"It was amazing, Carmen. I really think we are connecting again."

"That's great, Dana." Carmen said pulling Dana closer as they were walking out of the back of the main building. "I'm really happy for you."

"I still have to get her back, though." Dana replied. "How can I make her see that I really love her?"

"Have you tried just telling her?"

"Things get weird when we start talking about what happened between us." Dana said with a sad smile. "I have to make her see that I'm not afraid anymore." She said as she led Carmen through a grass pad that lead to her cabin.

Carmen stopped walking. "Dana, maybe you should..."

"Maybe I should what?" Dana asked, turning around to face Carmen.

Carmen shook her head. "Nothing, never mind, it was a stupid idea." She said as she started walking again.

"I'm open to try _anything_, Carmen, if it gets me Alice back."

"Well, you told me about the camp show coming up, maybe you should sing like Dawn asked you too." Carmen suggested. "You could do what you wanted to do the first time for Alice."

Dana looked down. "I don't know, Carmen. Last time was kind of a disaster."

"It won't be this time, Dana."

"How do you know that?" Dana asked. "I don't think I can handle it a second time."

"You told me that Alice is talking to you again, isn't she?" Carmen reasoned, trying to make her friend see that it could work out this time. "I think Alice will listen to you this time around."

"I don't know, Carm." Dana said. "Last time I wanted to talk to her about how I feel, singing a song is…frightening."

"You've sung before and you have an amazing voice."

"I want her back, Carmen but I'm still me, I'm still the same shy Dana you know."

"Yes, but this Dana know what she wants now." Carmen smiled. "You want your girl back and this might be your chance to do it."

Dana pondered a few moments on what Carmen told her before looking up. "What song should I sing?"

Carmen squealed and clapped her hands before linking arms with Dana as they started walking again. "Okay, okay, hmm what about…Whitney's I Will Always Love you?"

"To hard."

"Olivia's I Honestly Love You?"

Dana snorted. "To cheesy."

"Martina's My Valentine?"

"It's not February."

Carmen nodded and thought about some more songs. "Oh oh! I've got it." She said as she stopped and put her hands on Dana's arms to make her turn in her direction. "Amerie's I'm Coming Out!"

Dana threw her head back and started laughing. "No way."

"Come on! It's perfect." Carmen said._"I'm coming out, I want the world to know, gotta let it show._" Carmen sung as she did a little dance to go with it.

Dana just laughed and shook her head. "No." She said again.

"Alice will get the picture then, wouldn't she? Carmen said while joining Dana in a laughing fit.

Dana nodded as she tried to catch her breath. "Yes, I guess she would but I'm not singing that song, Carmen."

"Damn, I'm out of suggestions then."

"Oh come on, Carmen! I need your help."

"Sorry, Dane."

"Well, what would you sing for Shane, if you had to?"

Carmen thought about it and smirked. "I Wanna Sex You Up."

"Yeah, you're no help." Dana said as she started walking again, leaving Carmen who was laughing again behind.

"Hey, wait up." Carmen yelled as she ran after Dana.

Shane looked up when she heard the door of the room being opened. She saw Carmen coming through it and smiled a little. "Carmen, I'm not going to another session today, I…" Shane started when she saw Carmen coming closer to her where sat on the couch. Carmen sat down on her lap, her legs on each side of Shane. Carmen leaned in and kissed Shane fervently. Shane was surprised by this but immediately responded and put her hands around Carmen back, moaning softly. "Mmm, Carm. I…"

"Have I told you how hot you look in those shorts?" Carmen said as she broke the kiss and started kissing Shane's neck.

"I do?" Shane replied, moving her neck to give Carmen better access.

"Uhu, very sexy." Carmen said placing kisses down Shane's throat before moving to the other side of her neck. "I think our best friends will be together again real soon." Carmen said, looking Shane in the eye and before softly kissing her lips again.

Shane rested her forehead against Carmen's. "Yeah? How do you know?"

"I told Dana she should sing to Alice on the show they have coming up." Carmen said, running her hands through Shane's hair.

"Sing? And is she going to do it?" Shane pulled back a little to look at Carmen.

Carmen nodded. "Yes, she's going to give it a try." She smiled. "I think it's going to work out this time."

"Is that what's gotten you this excited?"

"Well, it _is_ a pretty good idea." Carmen laughed. "But you do look so good in that outfit." She said running her hands down Shane's front.

"Is this some evil plan to make me go to the other session with you?" Shane asked taking one of Carmen's hand to kiss.

"Maybe…" Carmen smirked. "I just want to be able to check you out some more."

"We can do that here, Carm." Shane said, leaning in again, lips inches away from Carmen. "You can check me out all you want."

"So can you." Carmen said before she stood up. She stayed in front of Shane before she pulled her shirt of, taking her bra with it. She pulled Shane up, took her hand and led her over to the bed. Carmen moved closer to Shane pressing her body against her. She kissed Shane slowly before pulling down her shorts. Kissing her way back up she pulled the Shane's shirt with it before taking it off completely.

Shane swallowed when she saw the primal look in Carmen's eyes. Carmen put her hand on Shane's stomach, her fingertips grazing her skin as she walked around her. She kissed Shane's shoulder before moving her around so they where face to face again. She pushed her girlfriend onto the bed and bluntly checked her out. Carmen took off her own pants before she crawled onto the bed and onto Shane.

"Carm?" Shane breathed out.

"Mmm?" Carmen replied while she placed kisses all over Shane's chest.

"I love it when you get excited."

"Hey D, guess what?" Dana said as she ran into the stageroom where Dawn was helping to set up the things for the upcoming show.

"Hey Dana." Dawn said, pulling Dana in a hug. "What?"

Dana smiled. "I'm going to sing at the show."

"Dana, that's great!" She said pulling her friend in another hug. "I knew you would do it."

"Yes, I'm going to sing a song for Alice."

Dawn's smile faded as she pushed Dana back a little to look at her. "What?"

Dana nodded. "I'm going to sing a song for Alice to win her back."

Dawn pushed Dana away completely now. "Are you crazy!" Dawn said, raising her voice.

Dana looked at Dawn, no idea why she was reacting the way she did. "I though you would like the idea as well."

"Why on earth would I like that, Dana?" Dawn replied. "The girl hurt you!"

Dana sighed. "Dawn, we've been over this already, it wasn't like that."

"Then let's go over it again, shall we?"

Dana shook her head. "No, look Dawn, I'm doing this whether you like it or not." Dana said, starting to get mad at her friends behavior.

"This girl isn't good for you." Dawn said. "She's …"

"Yes, she is. You don't know her like I do!" Dana said. "You have no right to say that!"

"Why won't you give me a chance, Dana?"

Dana stopped all movement. "I…what?"

"You know I like you, Dana."

"Dawn, I…"

"Just forget about it, okay." Dawn said, walking away. "Good luck with your song."

"No wait, let's talk about this Dawn." Dana said as she pulled Dawn back by her arm. "You always knew I wanted Alice back, Dawn."

Dawn sighed. "I know." She replied softly. "I was just hoping you would get over her."

"I love her, D."

"I know." Dawn nodded. "I know." She said again.

"I don't want to lose you." Dana said, her voice starting to crack.

Dawn looked at Dana. "Hey, you won't." She firmly said. "You can't, okay?" She said, pulling Dana back in a hug. Dana hugged her back tightly.

Dawn broke the hug but held Dana close. "I love you, you know?"

"I know." Dana nodded. "I love you too."

"Changing your mind already, huh?" Dawn smirked.

"As a friend, D." Dana said. "I love you as a friend."

Dawn laughed. "Hey, was worth a try, right?"

"You're unbelievable."

"I try." Dawn grinned. "Come on, we have lots of work."

"Hey wait." Dana said, taking Dawns arm. "We're okay, right?"

Dawn nodded. "Yeah, we are." She smiled.

.

.

.

TBC


	33. Chapter 32

**Chapter 3****2**

"I must be turning crazy, you two's playing sports?." Shane and Alice turned around, racket in hand.

Shane smiled. "Helena! You made it."

Helena smiled back and walked over to her friends to give them a hug. "Where's your girl?" Alice asked straight away.

"Hi Alice. Yes I'm okay, thank you for asking." Helena said, rolling her eyes.

Alice nodded her head quickly, waving her hand. "Yeah yeah, just tell me."

Helena laughed. "She went to use the restroom."

"Where are you staying?"

"The hotel down the road."

"Good, stay there whatever it takes." Shane said. "You have to sport here." Shane said, showing her tennis racket. "By the way, breaktime." She said, turning to Alice who nodded and dropped her racket, all off them walking over to the benches in the far corner.

"Yeah, what's this all about?" Helena asked. "Since when do you play sports?"

"Since her girlfriend made her." Alice answered for Shane.

"Oh yeah, and what's your excuse?" Shane asked. "Hmm?" Shane pushed. "I think we both are here cause of our girls."

"She's not my girl, Shane."

"Details, details, it's just a matter of time."

"How is Dana?" Helena asked, she chose to ignore the comment Shane and Alice made. Clearly things weren't solved yet between Alice and old friend, Dana.

"She's fine, she's teaching classes here." Alice said, with a small smile. "She's happy here." She added.

"That's good, Al." Helena smiled. "I'm glad."

"SHANE!" Shane turned around and mouted 'ooh ooh' to her friends.

"Over here, honey." Shane yelled back, trying to get her girlfriends attention.

"I leave you for one second and you already quit practicing." Carmen said, walking over to them.

"I didn't, honey, Helena is here." Shane said. "See?" She said, pointing to Helena next to her. Alice for some reason nodded along and also pointed to her friend.

"Aren't you lucky again, huh?" Carmen said.

"We were playing until Helena came." Shane said. "Right, Hel?"

"Actually, I saw you two standing together, I didn't see any playing going on."

Shane threw Helena a nasty look and mouthed 'traitor' to her. Helena laughed. "By the way, looking good in those shorts there, Shane." She said as she nodded hello to Carmen who smiled back.

Shane groaned. "I hate 'em" She whined.

"But baby, you ..." Carmen started.

"One more word about my shorts and I'm throwing them away." Shane threatened.

"Shortless, even better." Carmen commented, eyeing her girlfriend up and down.

"Stop undressing her with your eyes, Carmen." Alice said.

Carmen snorted. "Like you don't do it with Dana."

Alice blushed. "No, I don't." She muttered while everyone laughed.

"Don't blush, Al. We all do it. I do it with Dylan all the time." Helena said, helping her embarrassed friend out.

"Do what all the time, hun?"

Helena turned around and greeted her girlfriend. She took her hand and intertwined their fingers. "I'll tell you later." Helena laughed. "Guys, this is Dylan." She said to her friends. "Hunny, these are my best friends, Shane and Alice and that's Shane's girlfriend, Carmen.

Everyone said their hello's and started talking, practice long forgotten.

"Hey Carm."

Carmen stopped walking and turned around, smiling at her best friend. "Dane, what's up?"

Dana looked around before turning to Carmen. "Where are the others?"

"There around here somewhere, why?"

"I found a song!" Dana happily replied.

Carmen smiled. "That's great. Ooooh which one you going to sing?" She said, getting excited for her friend again.

"I'm not going to tell you." Dana said, pressing her lips tight together.

"What? Why not?" Carmen whined.

"Payback for not helping me with it."

"That's not fair, Dana." Carmen said. "You have to tell me, I have to know." She said, pulling at her friends arm.

Dana laughed. "I'm just kidding, it's…" Dana stopped talking, looking straight ahead of her.

"Dana?" Carmen asked, seeing her best friend stare behind her. She turned around to see what Dana was looking at.

"Who's that?"

"The girl Alice is hugging?"

"Y…yes." Dana said. "Well, not sure if you can still call that hugging." She gritted.

Carmen laughed. "Dana's, that's…"

"It's not funny, Carmen." Dana grumbled. "My girl is being hugged a little too much by that…"

"Helena!" Carmen cut in.

Dana stopped talking. "What?"

"Hunni, that's Helena." Carmen explained. "She's their best friend, remember? And that girl next to Helena is her girlfriend, Dylan."

"Oh."

"She was with us before we came here, she waited for her girlfriend to come back from a trip she was on so she could come here." Carmen explained further.

"Okay, now I feel…"

"Jealous?" Carmen finished.

"No, I…"

Carmen once again interrupted her best friend. "Wow, Dane. Don't think I've ever seen you jealous before." Carmen said. "You were ready to go pull them apart."

"I wouldn't have done that."

"Sure, you wouldn't have." Carmen said, unconvinced. "Come on." She said, taking her best friend by the arm and towards the others.

"No, I have to finish helping out with some thing for the show." Her mood changing.

"You sure?" Carmen asked.

"Yeah, I'll catch up with Helena later." Dana said. "It will be nice to see her again."

"Hang in there, hun." Carmen said. "Soon you'll be the one hugging her like that."

Dana nodded sadly. "See you later."

Dana sat alone, legs dangling over the edge of the platform she sat on, toes nearly touching the water. Staring into the distance, she sighed. Hoping that soon she would feel complete again, hoping that Alice would hear her song and forgive her for the things she did, or in her case, didn't do. She hoped that she could right the wrongs she made so she could be happy again.

And even though she had a plan to make it all happen, a part of her feared that Alice wouldn't accept it just like that. But why was Alice there, if she didn't care for Dana, if she didn't want to be with her anymore? What she did know was, if Alice didn't want her back, she would have to leave again because sticking around and be near her would kill her. Seeing Alice move on with someone else would be the end of her. She would keep in touch with Carmen and make sure she still saw her best friend. It wouldn't be fair otherwise and she couldn't lose two more important people, she would miss Carmen and Shane too much. She could handle a few days near Alice if the time would come, right?

"Alice." She breathed out into the open air.

She sighed again, wiping a tear away that rolled from her eyes. Why was she making herself so sad? Thing surely would work out, right? Alice would hear her song and would want her back. She would see that Dana truly had changed and wasn't afraid anymore. Seeing Alice hug Helena made her down, she missed Alice so much and longed to be in her arms again. The not knowing was eating at her. Luckily that would be over soon, she hoped.

Dana shook her head, trying to clear her worrying mind.

"Stay positive." She said to herself. _"Making myself depressed won't help me one bit."_

"Dana?"

Dana wiped her face and turned around. "Alice?"

Alice looked at Dana before she closed the distance. "May I?" She asked, wanting to know if she could sit down.

"Sure."

"Why are you sitting here all…" Alice started. "Dana, are you okay?" she saw the look off distress on Dana's face.

Dana nodded her head. "Yes, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Alice

"Yeah." She nodded. "I'm just really nervous about the show." She said which wasn't entirely a lie.

"I heard you are going to sing."

Dana froze for a second. Who told her? How much did Alice know?

"Carmen told me that Dawn didn't really give you a choice."

Dana relaxed again. "Oh, yeah. They had a few openings and they forced me to sing, I'm really scared about it." She told Alice who didn't know the real reason why she was so scared.

Alice put her hand on Dana's shoulder. "I'm sure you'll do great, we'll be cheering for you."

"You will?"

"Of course we will." Alice replied. "It's always nice to see a friendly face in the audience."

"I hope I don't suck." Dana laughed. Alice would be cheering for her, that was at least a good thing, right?

"You won't." Alice firmly replied. "And if someone says anything, I'll go kick their ass!." Alice laughed out.

Dana smiled widely. "I'm glad you would." She replied. "But I don't think you could kick anyone ass." She laughed.

"What?" Alice gasped, her hands on her heart for dramatic effect. "I'll have you know that I can kick anyone's ass, alright?" Alice replied. "I'm pretty feisty."

"Oh, that I know." Dana answered.

Alice nodded and swallowed, looking at Dana who stared back. "Or I could always send Carmen to go beat them up." She laughed.

"Yes, that could work."

Alice nodded and looked away, staring into the distance just like Dana had done moments before. "Why didn't you tell me before that you had such a nice lake here?" She said, admiring her surroundings.

"It is pretty cool, isn't it?" Dana said, looking around again. "I've been here all this time and didn't even go in the water yet." Dana went on. "You know, the first time a saw it I just wanted to run of this platform and jump right in, fully clothed and everything." She laughed.

"What's keeping you?" Alice smiled.

"I can't just jump in the water, Al."

"Why not? If that's what you want to do." Alice said. "Come on." She stood back on the platform, waiting for Dana to stand up as well. "Let's do it."

Dana laughed. "We can't do that, Alice." She said shaking her head. "We'll be soaked."

"Oh come on." Alice replied. "We can always change."

"Someone might see us." Dana laughed. "My boss might see me and think I'm nuts or worse, fire my ass."

"Oh, you think you would get in trouble?" Alice asked, she didn't want that to happen.

Dana shook her head and smirked. "I'm pretty sure my boss ain't here at the moment." This might be fun to do and Alice wanted to do it with her so why wouldn't she, right?

"So…go for it!"

"Oh no no, you first. In case you change your mind." Dana smiled.

"I won't."

"Neither will I."

"Together?" Alice suggested, looking at Dana. She held out her hand for Dana to take and smiled shyly.

Dana looked down at Alice's outstretched hand, looked back at Alice, and took her hand in her own. Both of them stayed quiet for a moment, just to enjoy the feeling.

"On three?" Dana asked.

"Okay."

"One, two, three." Dana counted before they both jumped in the water.

Both of them quickly returned to the surface laughing. "Oh my god, that's so cold!" Alice shouted.

"I know!" Dana cried out. "I'll race you to the next platform." Dana evily laughed before swimming off.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Alice yelled before going after Dana. She catched up with her quickly and put her arm around her waist. "Not so fast." She laughed, turning them around, pushing Dana away before taking off again.

"Oh no, you won't!" Dana laughed, grabbing Alice's leg and pulling her back. "You can't sport but you seem to handle swimming pretty well !" Dana commented, pulling Alice against her to prevent her from taking off again. Alice's back against her front.

"Yes, and I'll win this!" Alice said, trying to break free from Dana's grasp on her.

"Oh yeah?" Dana asked. "How?"

Alice stayed still, turning her head to the right, inches away from Dana's face. "I don't know." She wispered. "Maybe I'll just…Oh my god! What the heck is that?" Alice yelled, pointing straight ahead of her. Dana quickly let go of Alice and turned.

"Where? Where?" Dana asked. "What is it?"

"Gotcha, sucker!" Alice laughed, speeding off again.

Dana shook her head. "Cheater!" She yelled.

TBC


	34. Chapter 33

**Chapter** **33**

"You totally cheated."

"You started it!"

Dana gasped. "I did not!"

"Oh yes, you did." Alice replied as she gave Dana a hand to help her on the platform. "You with the '_I'll race ya to the next platform'_ thing." She said, in a Dana-like voice.

They had stayed in the water over more then an hour before they agreed that the water was slightly to cold to stay in it. They had laughed a lot, something both had missed doing lately, they started chasing each other around the water, trying to win the matches they both had lost at one point. First Alice won by distracting Dana, second time Dana faked a cramp.

The third time the match almost went fair, Dana was swimming in front of Alice and was about to win again when Alice yelled out _"Dana, dive down, I see your boss coming! _ Dana had shrieked and had quickly dissapeared out of sight by diving under water. When she came up and faced where Alice had should have been, she saw nobody._"Alice, you don't even know my bo…"_ she had started. She turned around when she heard Alice laughing, Alice giving Dana a little wave from where to was, at the '_finish line_'.

Dana huffed. "I didn't cheat."

"Uhu, neither did I." Alice said as they almost reached the trail that led to Dana's cabin.

"Fine, we're both cheaters."

"Even so, I still won."

"I…shit, it's my boss!"

Alice snorted. "I'm not falling for…ooo… okay" Alice started when she was being pulled down by Dana.

"My boss is coming down here!" Dana wispered. "Stay down!"

"Dana, we are wet and laying in the middle of the pad." Alice started. "So unless he's blind, he'll walk right on us."

Dana looked at Alice with panic in her eyes. "Just roll over more so we are out off sight." Alice said as she pushed Dana away and crawled after a tree. She pushed Dana between her and the tree and stayed still. When they heard him passing right next to them, Alice buried her head in Dana's neck to make herself even more unnoticeable.

Both of them stayed like that for a couple of moments more until they didn't hear anything anymore. Dana, who was very aware about how close Alice stood, ran her hand over Alice's back. The action causing Alice to look back at her. Dana swallowed. It felt to so good to be this close again.

"I think he's gone." Alice said, her hands rolling up Dana's arms.

Dana nodded. "Yes, thank you."

Staring, that was all they did. Neither of them knew what to say. No words could come to mind when they where this close, closer then they had been in a long time. Dana smiled at Alice. She pulled a leave out of her hair, showed it to Alice before throwing it away.

"I missed you, Alice."

"I misse..." Alice started when they where startled by a group off kids who where cheering in the distance, probably a new game that had started. The moment was broken, Alice let go of Dana and took a step backwards. Dana sighed and stepped away from the tree as well. "We should go get changed."

Dana nodded. "Yeah."

The rest of the trail was walked in silence. They soon reached Dana's cabin and stood at the door. Awkward silence now surrounding them.

"_This is just silly." _ Dana thought. "I had fun, thank you." She said, breaking the silence.

"Me too." Alice replied. "I liked all the winning." She smirked.

Dana laughed. "Fine, you can be the winner."

"I _am _the winner." She winked.

Dana smiled widely. "Well then…"

"Yeah."

"Thanks again." She said, hesitating before pulling her arms out. Alice smiled and closed the distance and put her arms around Dana, giving her a hug. They pulled each other as close as they could, both ignoring the fact that is was getting cold. "I'll see you later." Dana said, breaking the hug.

"Yep." Alice replied, watching as Dana slowly opened her door.

"Dana?"

Dana spun around. "Yes?"

"You think I could change at your place, I really don't want to be caught looking like this." She said, looking down at herself.

Dana laughed. "Sure, come on in."

Alice walked in, Dana following her before closing the door behind them.

"So, you are telling me that you both where naked and nothing happened?"

"Yes, Shane." Alice replied. "That's what I'm saying. And we weren't naked at the same time, okay. Dana changed first and then me, okay?"

"So you watched each other get naked then?" Shane grinned.

"No! Of course not."

"Shane, give the poor girl a break, okay."

"Thanks, Helena."

"Oh come on, like you all weren't thinking the same."

Three people saying "I wasn't" could be heard around the table. Helena, Dylan, Carmen, Shane & Alice all sat together, waiting for Dana to come and join them. She had to work for the show first and had another class before she could join them.

"So…, did anything happen at all?" Carmen asked. "I mean, didn't you even I don't know… I mean…okay…you played around in the water, both wet, you rolled around, and then were naked and nothing happened?"

"No, Carmen."

Shane grinned and pulled her girlfriend closer. "You _were_ thinking about it, weren't you?" Carmen grinned back at Shane. "My girlfriend, ladies and gentlemen." She said as she gave Carmen a kiss on the lips. Carmen put her arms around Shane and pulled her into a hug. _"We are so going to get naked later."_ She wispered before breaking the hug and turning back to her friends.

Alice looked at the two couples smiling sweetly at eatch other. " Oh my god, you guys! Now you _all_ are thinking about getting naked, aren't you?"

"Can't help it, Al." Helena replied.

"Yeah, have you seen Helena naked, man she's…" Dylan replied, fanning herself with her hand.

"Dylan!"

"Screw you all, I'm out of here!." Alice said, standing up.

"Leaving already?"

"Dana, hey, no, I have nowhere else to be." She lamely replied before sitting back down. She was watching her as she leaned over to give Carmen a hug.

"Banksie!"

Dana smiled. "I haven't heard that name in decades." She said breaking the hug with Carmen and turning. "Helena! How are you, give me a hug." Dana said, walking around to give her old friend a hug.

"I'm very well, thank you." Helena replied. "This is Dylan, my girlfriend."

"Hi, I'm Dana."

"It's nice to finally meet you, I have heard so much about you." Dylan replied when she heard Alice choke on her drink.

"Al? Are you okay." Carmen asked, gently patting Alice's back.

"Yes." She said as she coughed. "I'm fine."

"What where you thinking about just now, Alice?" Shane asked as everyone started laughing, Alice turning red and Dana who stood clueless cause she had no idea what was so funny.

Hands roaming over her body, stopping to cup a breast, squeezing it little before moving over to her other breast, giving it the same attention.

"Shane, don't stop, oh don't…I'm gonna come…"

"Cum for me, honey." Shane said from between Carmen's legs. Those words where enough to send Carmen over the edge, sending her into a frenzy. Panting, her chest moving up and down and she rode out her orgasm.

Shane licked her way back up, giving every piece of skin she came across her undivided attention. When she reached Carmen's face, she kissed her lips, again and again.

"I think I caught fire." Carmen panted out when Shane moved to kiss her neck.

"Want me to hose you down?" Shane replied huskily as she kissed Carmen again. She pulled back and smiled at Carmen, kissing her sweetly again, staring into each other eyes. Carmen brought her hand up to touch Shane's cheek.

Shane opened her mouth to say something but closed it again. She just kept looking at Carmen, rolling off her slightly but keeping Carmen close in her arms.

"What is it, baby?"

Shane hesitated. "Do you know that you are the only girl I ever said I love you to?"

"You never told anyone you loved them?"

"I've told Alice and I love my friends at home, they are like my family. But I've never said it to someone I've been with, like this." Shane motioned, her hand pointing to both of them.

Carmen smiled lightly. "You never loved someone like this before?"

Shane shrugged. "I don't know, I don't think so. I guess I never stuck around long enough to find out. But you're different, you are so amazing, Carmen. When I see you I have a like an emotion overload, I have this constant need to be with you, to be close to you and hold you. I've never had that before, it scares me some times." Shane admitted.

"You don't have to be scared, baby, I'll help you through it." Carmen said, kissing Shane. "We all get scared sometimes, but we have each other to get through it, together."

"I'm so in love with you." Shane wispered.

Carmen felt tears swell in her eyes. "I love you, too." Sure, Shane had said it to her before, but it was like she was hearing it for the first time again. The way Shane said it, so vulnerable, so softly, so sweet, it made Carmen's heart melt.

"I never thought I would say it, let alone feel it." Shane said, her hand running over Carmen's side before moving over her arms, she repeated the same thing over and over, opening up to Carmen more then she had ever done to anyone. "I was always afraid to feel like this I think, cause I would lose control over myself and I couldn't lose that control. But Carmen, this is the greatest feeling in the world. Being with you, like this, it's heaven to me." Shane smiled. "How cheesy am I, right?" She laughed.

"I love it." Carmen smiled, pushing Shane lightly on her back. Her hand cupping Shane's cheek again. "And I love you." She said, pressing her lips against Shane's. "I'm glad I'm the one to make you feel like this."

"I'm glad too." Shane said, putting her arms around Carmen's naked torso. "Thank you."

Carmen laughed. "You do know it's going to be hours before we'll leave this bed again, right?"

"You won't hear me complain." Shane said as she leaned in to kiss Carmen, ready for the second round.

TBC


	35. Chapter 34

**Chapter** **34**

"Shane…Shane." Carmen said, trying to get Shane's attention. "You'd better not give me a hickey." Carmen warned.

Shane was kissing Carmen's neck while her hands where trying to unknot Carmen's robe. "I won't." She replied, finally leaving Carmen's neck. Shane smiled at Carmen when she had opened her robe. Her hand immediately running up and down Carmen's naked sides.

"Shane, I need to get dressed." Carmen tried again.

"No, you don't." Shane said, pressing her lips against Carmen's.

"Yes, I _do _." Carmen said, grabbing hold off Shane's wandering hands. "I already had to push you out of the shower, do you need me to push you out of the bathroom as well?"

"I still don't see why I couldn't shower with you."

"Because we were doing anything but shower." Carmen replied and saw Shane smirk at that. "And I did warn you."

"It's not my fault you are so irresistable." Shane replied moving closer to Carmen again, pushing her gently against the door. "Can you blame me?" Shane said, her eyes trailing down Carmen's body.

"Shane…" Carmen warned again.

"But…"

"I need to get dressed, we've been in here for hours." Carmen said.

Shane sighed. "Fine, I'll let you get dressed." She said stepping away from Carmen slightly. "One more kiss?"

Carmen laughed and looked at Shane. She held up her arm and gave Shane the come hither sign. Shane smiled and stepped back closer, her eyes not leaving Carmen's. She leaned in and kissed Carmen passionately. Her left hand trailed from Carmen's arm to her hair where she pulled her even closer. Carmen openend her mouth and let Shane's tongue in, both of them fighting for dominance. Carmen moaned when she felt Shane's leg between hers.

"Mmm, Shane." Carmen said, losing herself in the kiss, her hand running over Shane's back. "Oookay." She finally said, gently pushing Shane away. Both of them now breathing heavily. "Okay, you need to wait outside." Carmen said, moving to open the door, her eyes avoiding Shane.

Shane laughed. "Are you sure that's what you want, baby." She huskily asked her girlfriend. "Is that what you _really_, _truly_ want right now?" She said, stepping closer to Carmen once again, her mouth nearly against Carmen's ear.

"Stop." Carmen said, holding her hand up to show Shane not to come any closer. "You're so going to pay for this later, Shane."

Shane laughed again. "I'll wait…on our bed…for you." She said as she stepped next to Carmen. "You look a little tense baby, maybe you should take another shower." Shane evily suggested. "Or I could always release it for you, either way, you know where to find me." And with that she left the bathroom completely.

"I hate you, McCutcheon." Carmen yelled after Shane before slamming the door.

"Helena! Have you seen Carmen?" Dana asked. "I really have to talk to her."

"Hey Banksie, no I haven't seen her in a while." Helena replied. Her and Dylan where walking around the club when Dana caught up with them. "Are you alright?" Helena asked when she watched a nervous Dana who was fidgeting with her hands.

Dana looked around again, hoping to catch a glimpse of her best friend. "Okay, I'm freaking out, Hel." Dana shrieked. "I can't do this, I can't sing tonight, I just can't do it. It's too much. What if Alice just doesn't want me back, what if I sing so bad that everyone leaves, what if I forget my lines and start to stutter…why did I come up with this…I ju…"

"Wow wow wait, Dana, you have to calm down." Helena interupted her old friend who didn't even seem to remember to breathe. "It will be alright, you'll do great."

"I don't know, Hel." Dana started again. "It's me, I don't sing infront of people, I don't declare my love like that, hell, before Alice I didn't declare anything to anyone at all, I'm the one that stands in the back, in some dark corner where almost noone can see me. Not on stage where _everyone_ can see me."

"Didn't you say that you sung here before already?"

"Yes, they made me do it, I didn't like it, Hel. And that was different." Dana said pacing around infront of Helena and Dylan. "It's Alice. Alice! God, she's making me crazy."

"Alice will love it, Dana." Helena tried to reassure her friend.

"Yeah and just think on why you are doing this." Dylan added. "At the end of tonight, you will have your girl back."

"You really think so?" Dana asked with hope in her eyes.

"Yes, I do." Dylan nodded. "I've only just met you all but I can tell that you both still love each other very much."

"Really?" Dana smiled slightly.

"Totally, the glances, the shy smiles, they way you both look around to see the other."

"Dylan's right, Dane." Helena said. "Just do this, you owe it to yourself and to Alice. You need to take the chance to fix this."

"I wish it was over already."

Helena laughed. "You'll do fine, Dana."

"I should head back… I ran off." Dana laughed. "You'll both be there tonight, right?"

"Of course."

"Okay, thank you, both of you." Dana smiled.

Dylan and Helena smiled and nodded at Dana before she took off again, running back to the building.

"Where the hell have both of you been?" Alice angrily asked. "I've been looking all over for you."

"Us? We lost track off time." Shane replied her best friend. She couldn't hide the smile on her face though.

Alice noticed this and looked at both Carmen and Shane. "_All_ this time?" She asked them, realising just how they lost track off time. "You've been gone like half the day."

Shane shrugged. "We didn't really have time to check our watch."

"Why did you need us?" Carmen asked, changing the subject.

"We had another session this afternoon, remember?"

"We did?" Shane asked. "Shame we missed it." She lamely replied.

"Yeah right! I can see how heartbroken you are about it." Alice said. "It sucked, Dana wasn't there, you all weren't there, it was just me, making a fool of myself."

"Nothing new, right?"

Alice punched her friend's arm. "Shut up, Shane."

"We were on our way to the show, you coming with us?" Carmen asked.

"I need to get changed first, I'm not going like this!" Alice said, looking down at herself. She was still wearing her sport attire.

"Well hurry then, we'll save you a seat." Shane told her best friend.

"How you feeling?"

"Scared shitless."

"You can still back out."

"Dawn…"

Dawn put her hands up in surrender. "Hey, was just a suggestion."

"Your support is really nice." Dana said sarcastically.

"Hey, aren't I the one that helped you during rehearsels?"

"Yes. I couldn't have turned the cd player on myself." Dana mocked.

Dawn made a face at Dana. "Your friends are here…without _her_." Dawn motioned when she saw Shane and Carmen enter.

Dana quickly turned around to face them. Carmen saw Dana and walked over. "Where's Alice? She is coming, right?"

Carmen smiled. "Relax, she went to change her clothes."

"Yeah, she wouldn't miss this, Dane." Shane replied. "She'll be here soon, you nervous?"

"Oh no, not at all, the fact that this can make me get Alice back doesn't make me nervous, at all." Dana once again replied sarcastically.

"Are you always this sarcastic when you are nervous?" Dawn asked.

"I'm dying here guys, this is so important to me."

Carmen put her hands on Dana's arms. "You'll do fine." Carmen smiled and reasured her best friend. "And we'll all be here to cheer you on."

"When is it your turn?" Shane asked looking around to see more people entering.

"Well the kids show ended about 15 minutes ago so it's almost going to start. So I guess in about half an hour. I'm after some weird magic trick which I don't get."

"Okay, we're going to get a seat, good luck!" Carmen said, hugging her best friend. "We'll be cheering."

"Thanks, Carm."

Shane smiled at Dana and also gave her a hug. "Good luck." She wispered.

"Thanks, Shane." Dana smiled as she watched her friends walk away to find themselves a seat. She turned back to face Dawn as they walked over to stage.

"Dana…I hope you get her back, honestly." Dawn said. "Really, I mean it, she obviously can make you very happy, and you seem to really love her so she can't be bad."

"Thanks, Dawn." She said, hugging her. "I'm glad to have your support." She said, giving Dawn a kiss on the cheek.

"You're welcome." Dawn smiled. "But if she does one thing wrong, I'm kicking her ass." Dawn laughed when she noticed Alice at the door. "She's here."

Alice waved at Dana before turning and walking over to the table where Helena and Dylan had already joined Shane and Carmen.

"Okay, you ready?" Dawn asked.

"No."

"Cool, let's go." Dawn laughed as she pulled Dana backstage.


	36. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

"Poor Dana, she looks like she's about to faint." Shane told Carmen while Alice was talking to Helena and Dylan. Carmen was now sitting on Shane's lap so Alice could sit as well. The table they sat on was rather small as well and this way they all fit better. And Shane just loved it cause it was a good excuse to be close to Carmen without Alice teasing her about it.

"I know, I hope she will be able to pull trough."

Shane nodded. "She will, she determined to get Al back, she'll do it."

Carmen smiled. "Would you do something like that for me?"

"What? Sing infront off an audience and telling everyone I love you?"

Carmen smiled wide. "Yes."

"Honey, I'm pretty sure everyone already knows that or haven't you noticed that we are sitting really close?"

"And if you hadn't had me yet?"

"I'd serenade you 'till you fall madly in love with me."

Carmen threw her head back an laughed. "Shame I don't have a balcony at my house."

"Do you _want_ me to serenade you?" Shane asked. "Cause I'll do it."

Carmen shook her head slightly. "Guess what?" she wispered as she leaned in closer to Shane.

"What?"

"I'm already madly in love with you."

Shane smiled and leaned in to kiss Carmen. Pressing her lips against Carmen's, giving her sweet kisses. Both of them smiling the whole time. Shane wrapped her arms tighter around Carmen.

"I love you too." She said as she broke the kiss and hugged Carmen.

"Woah woah woah, watch the hands people, you're not alone here, okay?" Alice said, interrupting their moment.

"Shut it, Al." Shane grumbled. "Just look away."

"How can I ignore that when you are sitting so close to me?" Alice asked. "You're the one with your hand on your girlfriends ass! Like you wouldn't notice if it was me doing it."

"What, to Dana?"

"N…no…it was just example."

"Sure."

"It was! Okay, Carmen could you please turn around so at least I don't have to watch Shane's wandering hands." Alice complained.

Carmen laughed and stood up from her place on Shane's lap. She turned around and went to sit back down, Shane holding her arms open from Carmen. As soon as Carmen sat back down, Shane put her hands back in their previous position.

"Better?" Carmen asked.

Alice nodded. "Yes, thank you. At least now I can talk to your face instead of your ass." Everyone started laughing at Alice's comment.

"When is this going to start?" Dylan asked.

"I think they are about ready to start the first one." Shane said, she motioned with her head to the stage where things where being put up, getting ready for the first act.

"This should be interesting."

"Okay, thank you Jamie and Elise for that rather interesting magic show." Dawn said from her place on stage. "Okay, next on the list is a very dear friend of mine. Dana is going to sing for us. We slightly forced her to do it so she's a bit nervous. So, please put your hands together and give her a warm welcome, Dana Fairbanks everyone!" Dawn said, holding up her arm to where Dana came on stage.

Everyone started clapping. One table drawing extra attention when they cheered their friend on, clapping and yelling louder then everyone else, drawing attention of the people around them.

"Thanks everyone, especially the table there in the back, which are my best friends, in case you couldn't tell." Dana laughed while she explained. "Well, as Dawn told you, I'm a bit nervous about doing this." Dana said as she swallowed. "This is very important to me and I can't mess this up. To me, this is very personal, I'm going to try and make a few things right with this song. You see, I made the biggest mistake a while ago and lost the love of my life cause of it."

"What is she doing?" Alice asked, looking around the table. "Why is she…"

"Sshh, shut up and listen, Al."

"But…"

Shane gave her best friend a stern look that told her to just wait and see. Alice swallowed at looked back at Dana.

"So I hope you'll enjoy this." Dana said as she gave the signal to turn on the music, she took a deep breath and concentrated, her eyes finding Alice's who was staring back at her with wide eyes.

_Looking back  
on the road behind,  
I've been in the dark,  
I've been blind.  
Turning left,  
when I should have gone right,  
oh but I can't go back,  
I can't rewind._

While the sky is turning,  
yet a darker shade of blue,  
I think of what it's gonna take to get close to you 

"Is she doing this for me?" Alice asked, not believing what was happening. "Did you knew she was going to do this?" She asked, once again looking around the table and at her friend who smiled at her.

"I think she's keeping her promise on winning you back, Al." Shane wispered.

_It's hard to face  
another day  
And I just won't forgive myself  
if I let this slip away.  
I know it now,  
I know it's true,  
only your love will do_.

Dana's eyes locked with Alice's once again, the fingers that where on her microphone pointing at Alice when she sung that last line. Alice's eyes began to tear up.

_If my regrets  
could reach your heart  
you know I'd rather die  
then to be apart.  
What is next  
only time will tell  
but to do without your love  
is way too hard.  
And every other girl that I've been talking to,  
makes me realize how much I'm missing you._

_It' hard to face  
another day.  
And I just won't forgive myself,  
if I let this slip away.  
I know it now,  
I know it's true  
Only your love will do._

I'd be a fool  
if I let this slip away

(Only your love)

Yeah. (Only your love)  
Only your love will do.  
And while the sky is turning  
yet a darker shade of blue.  
I think of what it's gonna take to get back to you.

(Only your love)  
Yeah  
(Only your love)  
I'd be a fool if I let this slip away  
(Only your love)  
Yeah (Only your love)

Only your love will do  
Only your love will do ohoho  
And only your arms will do.

"I love you, Al." Dana said just as the audience started clapping, everyone impressed by Dana's singing.

Alice was rooted to her chair, still staring at Dana who was walking down the stairs now. Helena gave her light nudge. 'She's coming over." She told Alice, who looked like she was in some sort of trance.

Dana nervously walked towards the table where her friends where seated. She felt like she was walking on death row, her legs weighing a ton as the table came closer and closer.

Alice finally broke out of her trance. "Excuse me." She told her friends and quickly stood up, walking around the table and towards Dana.

"She did it." Shane said as she watched her best friend walk away. "Dana has got her girl back." She smiled at Carmen who watched with deep interest at what was going to happen.

Alice and Dana stopped infront of each other. Dana even more nervous then before. She swallowed when she noticed Alice's intense stare.

Dana couldn't take it any longer. "Wh…what did you th…?"

"Kiss me." Alice interrupted.

"What?"

"Kiss me." Alice urged. She needed Dana to make the first move, she needed that final step from her, even though she was already sure of Dana when she told her she loved her just moments ago, infront of everyone.

Dana took a anxious step forward, her trembling hands running down Alice's arms before taking hold of her hands. She leaned forward and kissed Alice. Her hold on Alice's hands tightening as she did. Neither of them moved when their lips met, standing completely still, their lips tightly pressed together. Slowly Dana's lips started grazing Alice's as they kissed softly.

Alice smiled at Dana. "You kissed me."

Dana smiled back. "You told me too."

"And you did." Alice said, raising her hands, bringing Dana's up with her.

"Yes, I did." Dana said as she kissed Alice's hands.

"I missed you so much." Alice said, crushing Dana's body against her own, hugging her closely.

"I missed you too." Dana smiled, burrying her head in Alice's hair, not caring who was looking at them. She had her girlfriend back, she was back where she belonged, in Alice's arms. "God, I missed you." She said, breaking the kiss and once again kissing Alice. "I love you."

"I love you too." Alice smiled. "The song was beautiful."

"I was so scared."

"You did great." Alice smiled.

"Okay okay, you are making people sick with the way you are sickenly smiling at each other right now." Carmen's voice sounded from behind them, breaking them apart. "I knew you could do it!" Carmen said, hugging her best friend.

"So, everyone knew?" Alice asked.

She looked at her friends who where all nodding and smiling at their friends, happy that they finally found each other again.

"Let's sit back down." Helena suggested. "They are going to start the next act." She said as they walked back to the table.

"You don't have to work anymore, right?" Alice asked Dana.

"No, I don't think so." She said, taking Alice's hand and sitting back down.

"Watch where you place your hands, Al." Shane told her best friend when Dana didn't have a chair and went to sit on Alice's lap.

"I'm never _that _inopropriate."

"Who is?"

"Shane earlier, she was feeling Carmen up."

"And you told us you wanted it to do to Dana." Shane said, trying to be serious when she told Dana.

"I did not say that!" Alice blushed. "I didn't." She told her girlfriend.

"You can feel me up all you want."

"Dana!" Alice shrieked blushing even more, everyone at the table now laughing, disturbing the show that had started moments ago.


	37. Chapter 36  epilogue

_**Hello, I don't know if anybody will still care to read this but I finally completed the story. It took me freakishly long but this needed closure. So, that's what I did. I tried to give it the ending it deserved. There was still ground I wanted to cover in the story but I just couldn't fit it in there anymore.**_

_**So, if anyone is still reading this, Thank you.**_

_**I hope you leave me a review.**_

_**xoxoxoxoxoxo**_

**Chapter 36**

After that night, Dana and Alice spend almost every moment they could together. They agreed to take things slow as they still had a lot to talk about as well. But they worked everything out.

They spoke honestly about their feelings and Dana admitted that, even though she still had fears, she promised to never hurt Alice like that ever again. She would face her fears, face them together with the love of her life.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"I can't believe you're married." Shane said hugging her best friend as they arrived at the party. "I'm really happy for you, Al."

Alice smiled brightly. "Told you I'd beat you to it." She joked. "Where is your girl anyways?"

"She had to go to the bathroom…again." Shane anwsered. "Where's yours, lose her already?" She joked back.

Alice looked around the booming room, filled with people, trying to find her wife. "Baby." She yelled out. "Babe." She waved her hands to get Dana's attention. "Shane's here." She yelled, pointing at her best friend. Dana waved and walked around to reach the two of them.

"Hey Shane." She said, giving her a big hug.

"Hey. Congratulations..." Shane smiled. "Again."

"Thanks, I'm really happy." She smiled dreamily at Alice, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I'm the happiest woman on the planet."

"Me too." Alice replied, losing herself in Dana's eyes.

Shane discreetly looked away. "Oookay, so, I'm going to find Helena and Dylan. I'll see you guys later." She said, quickly turning away from the now kissing couple.

She spotted Helena and Dylan near the bar. "Man, I'm not sure if Dana and Alice will survive their own party."

"How come?" Helena asked as she quickly thanked the bartender who gave them their drinks. She gave one of the drink to Dylan who smiled lovely at her. Helena offered Shane her drink who kindly refused.

"I was just talking to them and they are just all over each other." Shane laughed. "Dana sure got over her insecurities and seems to be a big fan about PDA."

"They were like that when we arrived as well." Dylan laughed as she took at sip of her drink. "I think soon we'll be just having a party instead of celebrating the two of them."

The three of them laughed. "Let's see how long they'll manage without leaving."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Carmen came in the room after she went to the bathroom, suddenly regretting that she told Shane to go ahead without her. The place was packed and she couldn't spot her girlfriend or any of her friends. Not even her just married best friend could be found at the moment, which was weird. She figured the newlyweds would be near the enterance to greet the invited guests. She walked to the bar and ordered a drink while she looked around to locate any familiar face.

"Hey there, can I buy you a drink?"

Camen turned around to see who was talking to her. "I'm pretty sure the drinks are free tonight." She anwsered the woman.

"Okay well…how about a dance then?" She asked.

Carmen smiled at the woman. The girl oozed confidence and probably was looking to get a girl to have her own fun with tonight. _"Players." _Carmen thought. Carmen had to admit that she was pretty, a blonde girl with legs that went on forever. She was pretty, but, she wasn't Shane…by far. "I'm sorry, I can't." Carmen politely awnsered. "My…-"

"Are you married?" The blonde asked bluntly, interupting Carmen.

"No, I'm not but…" Carmen anwsered, starting to get irretated with this woman. She just wanted to find Shane and celebrate with them.

"You know, I've been looking at you from across the room since the moment you walked in." The blonde seductively said taking another step closer towards the Latina. She turned around when someone tapped on her shoulder.

"Then why don't you go back there and keep watching?"

Carmen smiled brightly when she saw Shane. "Hey baby."

"Hey you." She said, giving Carmen a kiss before putting her arms around Carmen's waist to hold her tenderly.

"Is this your girlfriend?" The snobby woman asked in disbelief.

Carmen opened her mouth to give this woman a piece of her mind but Shane beat her to it.

"Yes, I am." Shane smiled brightly. "And oh, look at this…" she started, lifing Carmen's hand. "I'm also her fiance." She said, showing the ring on Carmen's finger before lifing her own hand that held the matching ring. "We're getting married in September."

"Oh, I…-"

"And oh yes, check this out, she's pregnant with my baby." Shane bragged, her hand going back to rest protectively on her fiance's stomach. "Bye bye now." She said, leading Carmen away without even giving the other woman another look.

As soon as they where out of reach, Shane turned around and smirked at Carmen. "I can't just let you out of my sight for one minute, can I?"

Carmen laughed again. "Baby, that was kind off rude." She said without any trace of madness in her voice. In fact, she pulled Shane closer. "What if she was a friend of Dana or Alice?"

"I've never seen her before, have you?" Shane said. Carmen shook her head saying she hadn't had seen her before either. "Then she isn't important. And besides…" she said pulling Carmen impossibly close. "You're taken."

"Yes, I am." She smiled, leaning in to kiss her fiance. She put her hands around Shane's neck to prolong the kiss. She pulled away and rested her forehead against her soon to be wife. "Have you seen the newlyweds yet, they weren't at the door."

"I have, they were displaying some serious PDA in the middle of the dancefloor." Shane said, sofly swaying her fiance to the beat of the music. "Helena and I have a bet going on how long it with take until they leave to get they private party started." She laughed.

"I'll probably have to find them then. I want to see them!" Carmen said already looking around to look for her friends. "You coming with me?" She said, holing her hand for Shane to take.

Shane smiled warmly and took her hand. "Always." She replied softly."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

**Epilogue**

At the end of the evening, Shane had to pay up because she lost the bet. Helena told her that, even though, Alice and Dana probably couldn't wait to start their first night togheter as wifes, they wouldn't leave their own party.

That doesn't mean that for about an hour noone could find the newlyweds anywhere. They did however came back in with matching grins on their faces. Shane claimed she won afterall but Helena stated that they never said anything about the two of them leaving for a "quicky".

Alice and Dana left the next day for their honeymoon. They planned to go to Spain for 3 weeks. But not before taking a detour before they went to the airport. With Helena's help, she was granted access to the golfclub Helena's mother owned. Dana pulled her wife closer as they reached their destination. A couple had looked up in shock at what was placed infront off them. Dana just smiled and told them that she wanted to make sure they knew that she was infact married to this beautiful girl. She wanted them to know she was truly happy and wanted them to have a souvenir. She gave them a picture of her and Alice sharing their first kiss as wifes.

Dana had invited her parents to their wedding. She had talked to her mother months before, told her that she was dating Alice. She informed them that she was going to get married, but they never showed up. And while, at first, Dana was sad about it. She still didn't care at the end off the day. She no longer hid who she was. She was in love with Alice and she didn't care who did or didn't agree with ther choice. So she was glad that Alice agreed to do this with her.

Shane and Carmen got married in September. Carmen was very much pregnant at the time but Alice had never seen her best friend happier. She was truly amazed at the rode Shane had taken. Not only did she used to be the biggest player in town, she had always sworn to never get married. But now, she was happily married and she was a mom. Carmen gave birth to a beautiful girl who they named Elisabeth, after Bette. Shane would forever be grateful that Bette and Tina saved her. She was forever in depth with them for taking care of her when noone else did, not even herself.

Helena and Dylan where still together. They weren't married nor have children at the moment. They have started a company together and where just to busy to raise a baby at the moment. Dylan however had popped the big question to her girlfriend which Helena had accepted. They where getting married, they just didn't know when.

Bette and Tina had moved so they could be closer to the family and it was also important for them that their children could grow up together. Both their children, Jake and Angelica, already went to school.

Everyting worked out for the best. They all had overcome their problems. They had faced their demons together and now they where all a big happy family. A union that noone could break down.

The End.

_**Reviews are my friends.**_


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